Capt. Mickey,
I understand and share your frustration. My son, now approaching 4, was diagnosed just after his second birthday. Like your son, my son was developing normally, until a series of vaccinations and he regressed. Were you aware that the military stockpiles vaccines? He was born in 2005, yet some of the vaccines were from 1998. My husband had retired from the Air Force just 6 months earlier, and the "mental health" portion of Tricare was unavailable to my son, due to the retirement. My congressman, Jeff Miller (FL), has helped raise awareness and write legislation to help children of military retirees recieve ABA services. It was sent to Congress in Sept. Lord willing, it will pass. Please know that you are not alone, and that although it is a long journey, we will beat this thing called Autism.

Capt. Mickley,

Don't give up hope. You have so many who believe you. Joyce Reilly of The Power Hour who got Gulf War syndrome after getting the vaccines only during the war believes that the vaccines not only cause autism but Gulf War syndrome. Our military has been abused by folks like Donald Rumsfeld who saw to it that aspartame was approved despite the objections of FDA scientists. These are the folks who are A-Ok with giving our military families powerful vaccines with glutamic acid in them despite all the latest evidence pointing to a glutamate-autism link. Perhaps Joyce would have you on her radio show. She just recently appeared in The Beautiful Truth Documentary that will be opening in San Francisco in January. She talks about her experiences in the film.

This is incredible. Captain Mickley, thank you for being brave enough to speak the truth in the face of such adversity (for our military men and women speaking the truth is a whole new level of bravery).

DK, thank you for sharing this beautiful letter with us. And know that we all feel the same way as the Captain.

Ang, speaker of truth, you rock! ;) Sorry, just had to get that in.

Captn Mickley, I commend your efforts. I personally would not let my child enter the army expressly due to this concern (over-vaccination) and I think The military needs to know this. My son (11) has recently commented on a military service commercial where an ex-military welcomes a returning soldier home. What a shame!

A couple of days ago we once again witnessed people lining up along the "highway of heroes" to honor those Canadians who lost their lives in Afghanistan.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/08/soldiers-return.html

I don't even feel worthy of trying to understand that kind of sacrifice. "W" once said "you're either with us, or against us" when selling his war to the masses. I'm with you, captain Mickley, and all those in uniform, where ever you are. But I'm not "with" these idiots who send you to fight (and die), and then preach to the world that we don't really respect you, if we don't buy into their agenda.

I don't pretend to understand any of what you've experienced in your career, on the battlefield, at home, wherever, but I admire and respect your courage, then and now.

Mr. Kirby,
You will never have to worry about ridicule here. You have friends and people who admire you to no end on this site, and you are always a welcome person in my book. Please keep up your efforts.

Capt. Mickley,
You, sir, are the very definition of honor. You are the very definition of bravery. You are the very definition of what it means to be a soldier. It is appalling that you and those like you that defend this country with your lives every day are subjected to this injustice; that you must watch your children suffer because of the greed and avarice of a Megomaniacal Doctor and ultra powerful corporations. It sounds like a James Bond movie, but it is real life to us.

I thank you, my autistic son thanks you, though he can't speak. I call you a friend, though I have never met you. If you read this site, I hope it gives you comfort that your sacrifice and your efforts are appreciated every day. If I ever meet you, I would like to shake your hand and tell you how much of a hero you are.

As usual, the government started this war, and it will be our troops who finish it. I look forward to the day when I can walk up to a troop and thank them from the bottom of my heart for saving our children and protecting our country.

I think it's criminal that military families with ASD kids have to move every 2-4 years!

Instead our family stays where there are services and Dad moves around the world.

But, the "military life" directly HURTS children with autism and their progress. We are grateful for the benefits and insurance, but the living situations just plain suck.

Good luck Capt. Mickey~!

Someone asked, "What does it say about our current society that the groups of people who are supposed to be deemed the most sacred and due the most consideration and respect-- infants, children, our elders, those who are fighting or have fought our wars-- are now the first to be picked off for profits, often used as guinea pigs, silenced and left to rot?"

It speaks volumes about where we are at morally & ethically, doesn't it?

In 1994, Mother Teresa stated flat out to then-President Clinton, Hillary & many D.C. elites that "if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"

A nation that does not protect it's weakest, most vulnerable members, but instead treats them as if they are disposable or uses them for spare parts and experimentation is going to have no problem viewing other segments of society in the same way.

If we view only some human lives as sacred, rather than all - then this utilitarianism is the outcome that should be expected. Clearly many see our children, not as human beings of inestimable worth, but as acceptable collateral damage.

Capt. Mickley You deserve the medal of Honor for Bravery!

There are so many military families who know their children were injured by vaccines and regressed into autism. You have provided them a voice and an opportunity to speak up. Thank you.

For those of you who question why this is so hard... I will speak out as it has happened in our own family. Our members and spouses are fearful of retribution from military leadership. Period. As a spouse, i had to over come my own initial intimidation of stripes and ribbons. When my family was intimidated and implied threats were made, that is when I said enough is enough! I am a person and I wake up with bed head (although I was thinking something else...) just like they do. I have the right to make our families truth and my children's truth heard, I don't care how many stripes you have on your uniform.

On the flip side, many remain fearful, and they should NOT be faulted for this. Many are in positions where they simply can not speak up or they will lose their career and thus the ability to provide for their child(ren).

Maureen - you are right... this mantra is old. I'm sick of hearing it too. This is 2008, not 1950. Get with the times. Our members have families and chidren!

And David... our military families are so grateful to you and Age of Autism for opening the door for our community to be heard and unify. You all will NEVER know how grateful I personally am to you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Ang

I was very moved by Capt. Mickley's remarks that seeing his children regress was worse than combat. It's something that civilians who go through this loss suspect, though we're by no means entitled to make that kind of direct equivocation. It takes this kind of testimony to give the rest of us something by which to really measure the horror.

What does it say about our current society that the groups of people who are supposed to be deemed the most sacred and due the most consideration and respect-- infants, children, our elders, those who are fighting or have fought our wars-- are now the first to be picked off for profits, often used as guinea pigs, silenced and left to rot?

What happened to Captain Mickley's family and the families of other service members are all compounded tragedies. First, this represents multiple offenses-- the injuries and the the cover-up and neglect of the injuries of the children of service members. Secondly, there's the issue of how these service members themselves were subjected to multiple forced vaccinations, which could have reprecussions for their health down the line.

When reading the coverage of the military vaccine website's inclusion of "autism" as a risk of DTAP, many of us were probably wondering if there was an alternate reality in the military where vaccine injuries were being acknowledged, treated and compensated. Maybe even prevented. No one would have begrudged it and I think we all would have had hopes that this model would eventually be extended to civilians-- that it could have been a wonderful sign that the CDC's reign of damage, denial and silence was crumbling. From what Capt. Mickley writes, this is far from the truth.

It used to be the tradition for many children of career veterans to volunteer for military training and enlist. I wonder if that tradition will survive under the present circumstances. The remaining military kids (or any kids, for that matter) who are even fit to serve or command may not wish to see their own future children maimed and neglected in thanks. It's not the kind of thing that recruitment centers advertise on their promotional material.

It's incredibly brave of these families to follow the "call to duty" again for all our sakes. Of course it's horribly ironic that, this time, they're having to go up against the government they served.

Captain Mickley - I'm so sorry that this has happened to your family. Thank you for having the courage to speak up. My heart breaks for every child with autism or in reality (brain damage) because this insanity should have stopped after the Simpsonwood Meeting in 1999. I was speaking with a young military mom just yesterday and I asked her what she thought caused her son's autism. She got very nervous and was almost afraid to answer me so I answered for her and I said "it's the vaccines." She had a look of relief and went into detail about her son's seizure right after his vaccines and regression into autism. I'm not military so I don't understand what she was afraid of but my point is that being in the military it takes EXTRA courage to speak up - thank you.

Capt. Mickley: Thank you for serving our country and now fighting for all families worldwide. You are truly a hero.

And David, thank you for all of your work on our behalf. I don't know why you continue to subject yourself to ridicule and criticism but I am so grateful that you do.

Thank you, David, and thank you, Captain Mickley. It's so tragic that the people who administer the agents of harm are the same people expected to help and heal our children. These pursuits should not be mutually exclusive....

In 1950 a postwar book was published called "German Faces," by Ann Stringer and Henry Ries. It featured profiles of people who'd supported the Third Reich -- not just military officers, but average citizens.

Obviously communications technology then was limited, but still these people had to have read or heard about prison camp atrocities. I was struck by a singular thread running through the narrative -- regret, but the wrong kind. One young man who'd been in the Hitler Youth spoke nostalgically about missing the rallies and the perks, the sense of mission and belonging.

I see a similar unhealthy ideological framework in the network of coalitions built by public health administrators. Chains of one-sided information with no place for consumer input. Consumers who question their handling of vaccine safety are treated like an affliction.

Wonder how Offitt will spin this?