[SuperScout]

It is truly amazing to me how we are still surprised to discover that mosquitoes can carry malaria, that it doesn't take months of exposure to the insects in order to be infected, or that malaria can sometimes prove fatal. Speaking personally, I have a daughter currently in Angola, who, after an acclimatization and language training period in Portugal, was sent there to assist in establishing some basic services there. With weeks of arrival in Angola, she contracted malaria, and dang-near died; and like most victims, will probably carry remnants of this disease with her for life. The history of mosquitoes and malaria is not new, and how we forget this history has produced tragic results.

Some of the tragedy involving our warriors might be chalked up to command failure. First-line supervisors are responsible to insure that their troops are taking the daily prophylactic, if this is what was called for, like we did the little white pills. If it could be verified that a soldier willfully refused to take the pills, his illness would be considered "not in the line of duty" and bad things other than medical could happen to him.

If the shots/pills/ etc. were out of date, ineffective, then evidence of neglect at a higher level is present. If we are to demand that our warriors be ever vigilant to defend our freedoms, then the least they should expecct from us is to be ever vigilant over those support systems required to keep them healthy, armed, and applying proper sight patterns on targets of opportunity.