A Green Beret Vet's Burn Pit Story

Sergeant Major (SGM) Sid Hamid is a 59-year old U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret with almost 40 YEARS of service, and he's in advanced heart failure now with symptoms like an 80-year old man. You would not think a vet with four DECADES of service would have to pay for his own healthcare, but the VA has not paid a dime since Sid got sick in 2017, even though he's been diagnosed with not just one but SIX (6) of the 23 new, rare diseases covered by the PACT Act/toxic Burn Pit law that passed this year. But no one knows how long it's going to take the VA to enroll and cover the 100% presumptive service connection for all the Burn Pit illnesses Sid and other military members have, that are making them sick and slowly killing them. So Sid's family has had to pay for all of his care out of pocket through his wife's work insurance. His medical bills just since 2018 are over $3M, and even with really good insurance, it's been financially, emotionally, and physically challenging for Sid and his family to handle. Since 2018, the family has had to pay privately for 4 heart surgeries, hospitalization & ICU bills, monthly labs & co-pays for about 20 meds he's on, including expensive heart failure and immuno-therapy/oncology drugs to try and control the sarcoidosis, which have not worked. Even hitting catastrophic coverage each year, the family has paid over $100k in doctor and hospital co-pays, coinsurance, deductibles, etc. since 2018, and that does not include costs for expensive gas when the family makes the 6-hour round trip drives for his specialists in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, or hotel lodging for his wife to be close when hospitalized there.

When this site started it was to help the family cover ongoing & future medical bills, until the VA does the right thing and gets Sid covered on Tricare or the military medical insurance. Sid is still serving in the Army Reserves and asked his unit for a medical board to get retired due to being so sick, and they told him Reservists did not get to go to Boards. So he's appealing that, and hoping the Army will also do the right thing at some point and cover him with retirement healthcare. In the meantime, Sid has to keep paying out of pocket, and the Burn Pit diseases are robbing Sid of everything he holds precious: his health, his physical strength & mobility, his independence, his life/retirement savings, and even his cognitive ability now, since having only 20-30% of the blood & oxygen your body needs pumped out every time your heat beats means the brain & other organs start to suffer. Because of this, in 2022, in addition to recovering from major open heart surgery in February to make his combo pacemaker/defibrillator device bi-ventricular (with wires into both sides of his heart or he would not have any heartbeat at all, anymore), Sid got diagnosed in April with reduced brain executive function, for things like planning/organizing, speech/language, and memory. He's doing his best to stay active and heal from all this, but his life is forever changed from the toxic exposures he got serving in post-9/11 Iraq & Afghanistan (OIF/OEF). The family does not know how long they have before these diseases take Sid, but they thank you for prayers and support, and for spreading awareness through your church and social networks of the Burn Pit diseases & struggles vets face getting care even after the law was passed by Congress.

If you're able to help the family directly, either financially or just with prayers, we thank you & may God bless you. If you want to support Burn Pit vets like Sid and many others, but would rather your financial help go directly to tax-deductible organizations that support vets like Sid, the family recommends the links to 4 organizations below, who would all appreciate your donations instead. This is the land of the free because of the BRAVE, and vets like Sid and these organizations deserve support for the sacrifices made, and being faced, because of their willingness to serve & protect our American freedom. Thank you.

4 FANTASTIC Vet-Serving Organizations where your donation is fully tax-deductible are:

1. Hunter Seven

HunterSeven is an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization with doctors, nurses, and other professionals who do not take any salary, but are doing vet Burn Pit medical research and who also directly support/help vets like Sid, including paying for room air purifiers and other equipment needed. They sent Sid two from GrovPure that are really helping! For info about the room purifiers, GrovPure's a service disabled vet-owned company started by another Special Forces Green Beret like Sid, whose website is: GrovPure - check them out!

2. The Special Forces Foundation

The Special Forces Foundation was started by an Active Duty Green Beret leader when he saw that Green Berets & their families like Sid needed more help due to injuries & illnesses like the Burn Pit diseases. They're a lean & mean organization truly stepping up to help those in the Special Forces/Green Beret community. This foundation is similar to Hunter Seven– an all-volunteer organization where no one takes a salary wither.

3. Black Rifle Coffee Company Fund/Foundation

The Black Rifle Coffee Company was started by a vet who served in the same unit Sid had been in decades ago, right after 9/11. The coffee is GREAT, and is sold now in Walmart & grocery stores, plus growing coffee shops all over. They have a heart for vets & the company has a charitable fund to help vets like Sid & others.

4. Tunnel to Towers

T2T is a super large charity that supports not just warriors like Sid, but fallen first responders from law enforcement & fire fighters killed in the line of duty. You've seen their commercials and probably know all about them - but what they do for so many, for the past 20+ years is truly incredible, and they only ask for $11/month.