DONNELLY, Michael 1959-2005

(Michael W. Donnelly)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born February 3, 1959, in Orange, CA; died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), June 30, 2005, in Hartford, CT. Military pilot, activist, and author. Donnelly was a retired U.S. Air Force pilot and Gulf War veteran whose struggle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, led him to call for more benefits from the military for its veterans. A graduate of Fairfield University, where he earned a B.A. in 1981, and Midwestern State University, where he received an M.A. in 1996, he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1981 and became an F-16 pilot. Stationed in Germany, he saw combat in the Middle East during the Persian Gulf War. Earning such decorations as the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Achievement Medal, Donnelly contracted ALS while serving in the Gulf. The illness, which he believed was caused by exposure to environmental toxins while he was in the Middle East, forced him to retire in 1996; he had achieved the rank of major by that time. Publishing his story in Falcon's Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir in 1998, with the help of his sister Denise, Donnelly became a champion for veterans' rights. He campaigned before Congress to get them to acknowledge that servicemen were contracting illnesses, including ALS and other diseases, that could be directly linked to their Gulf War duties. Scientific evidence eventually backed up his claims, and in 2001 the government acknowledged the link and began paying more benefits to veterans. In honor of his work, a land preserve in South Windsor, Connecticut, was named after him in 2002.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Donnelly, Michael, and Denise Donnelly, Falcon's Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir, Praeger (New York, NY), 1998.

PERIODICALS

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), July 3, 2005, p. 27.

Washington Post, July 3, 2005, p. C8.

ONLINE

Ride for Life Online, http://www.rideforlife.com/ (July 2, 2005).