Thirty Years Ago This Week: In a guest column written for The Colorado Statesman, state Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, reflected on his service during the Gulf War in Operation Desert Storm. Coffman had taken an unpaid leave-of-absence from the legislature to serve.

“Thousands of veterans have reported mysterious symptoms from the Persian Gulf War that appear to be related to exposure to chemical weapons,” Coffman wrote. “There was nothing that we feared more than exposure to chemical agents.”

Coffman recounted a memorable briefing with his battalion commander who told his men, “Look, I don’t know why you are all so afraid of chemical warfare. You can do something about a chemical attack, you get shot through the chest and there is nothing you can do.”

Of the nearly 700,000 U.S. veterans who served in the Gulf War approximately 250,000 have been diagnosed with the long term, chronic multi-symptom illness, named Gulf War Illness/Syndrome, GWI.

After returning home, veterans found themselves suffering from chronic fatigue, aching joints, chronic diarrhea and difficult breathing.

Coffman wrote, “Whether GWI was due to exploding Scud missiles or the release of chemical agents, the only thing that is important now is the fact that we have so many veterans who are sick and in need of care.”

Coffman had been vocally taking both the Bush and Clinton administrations to task for being slow to confront the horrific problems and issues facing veterans.

“It took congressional scrutiny to prompt the Pentagon to look more strenuously into the misery of Gulf War Syndrome,” Coffman wrote. “I do believe that America does have an obligation to take care of service-related disabilities for all military personnel who serve their country in time of war.”

Twenty Years Ago: The Inner City Health Center located in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood was celebrating it’s 20th anniversary with a visit from Rep. Lois Tochtrop, D-Westminster, who was a professional nurse.

The private, non-profit, volunteer-based health care facility had treated 1,997 patients the first year it opened. By 2003, the facility was approaching seeing that many patients in a single month with over 20,000 visits over the course of the year.

The Inner City Health Center was founded to provide health care for the uninsured and sought to improve care for the city’s most vulnerable population.

“I’m painfully aware of the crisis brewing in Colorado’s health care system,” Tochtrop told The Colorado Statesman.

In other news from 2004, Rep. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, and Sen. Ken Arnold, R-Westminster, had just introduced a bill in the state House of Representatives to prevent school districts from adding discussions of alternative sexual lifestyles – except for information related to preventing disease – to their curriculums.

The bill was geared toward providing state-level guidance on the fine line between the school’s responsibility to teach health and safety, and parental/family rights in regard to personal or moral beliefs.

“We’re protecting parents’ right to shape the upbringing of their children,” Mitchell said. “Schools should not be stepping on parental authority in this sensitive and personal area. People’s political and social agendas should stop at the schoolhouse door, and we should give kids space to be kids.”

Arnold said that he and Mitchell were mindfully working within the bounds of Colorado’s Constitution, which balances educational authority between state and local control, to craft a bill that would still very much allow schools to disseminate important health and safety information.

“However, schools should impart that information without undermining parental teachings about sexual matters,” said Arnold.

Mitchell added that he had been approached by parents across Broomfield to consider such legislation following the Boulder Valley School District staff’s recommendation that their board approve discussions of homosexuality and bisexuality in all parts of the district’s curriculum.

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.