Timothy Scott Hauser Recognized for Fighting for Those Exposed to Toxic Substances While Deployed
Twinsburg resident Timothy Scott Hauser, a Veteran of the United States Air Force, has been recognized by Summit County VSC as its 2025 Veteran of the Year.
Tim helped lead the fight for passage of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act in 2022. The PACT Act removed the requirement for Veterans to prove that burn pits caused their illnesses and significantly improved health care access and funding for Veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during their military service.
He’s also been a longtime advocate for Veterans’ mental health, a fight he took up after his brother, an Air Force and Gulf War Veteran like Tim, took his own life on Christmas Eve 1998.
Tim served from 1982 to 1992, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. While deployed during Operation Desert Storm, he was exposed to burn pits, which were used to burn waste products including chemicals, paint, medical and human waste, munitions, petroleum, plastics, and other toxic substances.
Upon returning home after his deployment, Tim began having breathing issues. While he had run track and cross country in high school, he now found he couldn’t run a mile before becoming winded.
Medical tests showed that his exposure to toxic smoke during his deployment had severely damaged his lungs. He was diagnosed with constrictive bronchiolitis and his condition worsened in the ensuing years, impacting him economically and socially, as well as physically.
Even though numerous Veterans died from diseases related to toxic exposure, the Veterans Administration (VA) denied that their illnesses were related to conditions encountered while serving. As a result, the VA repeatedly rejected Tim’s applications for benefits.
After more than 25 years, Tim finally received 100 percent disability compensation.
“When I learned that I was finally approved for my benefits, it was an emotional moment. My wife looked at me and said, ‘Your fight’s not over. You can’t let this happen to anyone ever again.’”
When he shared the news of his long fight for benefits on social media, he was contacted by a representative from Burn Pits 360, an organization dedicated to improving post-deployment health outcomes for current and former military personnel suffering from emerging, complicated, or unexplained post-deployment health concerns.
Working on behalf of Burn Pits 360, during 2021 and 2022 Tim made more than 20 trips to Washington, D.C., at his own expense, to visit congressional offices and pursue the passage of the PACT Act.
In his efforts to lobby for the PACT Act’s passage, he met with Senator Jon Testor, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, who gave Tim the nickname “the Gulf War Advocate.” Tim also met with Senators Jerry Moran, Chuck Schumer, and Kristen Gillibrand; Mark Takano, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Representatives Raul Ruiz and Chuck Fleischmann; John Feal of the FealGood Foundation for 9/11 first responders; and comedian and activist Jon Stewart.
In 2022, Tim was present at The White House when President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act into law. Tim co-authored the book The Promise: The Stories of Four Burn Pit Survivor Families Who Found Friendship in Their Fight to Win the Largest Veteran Medical Bill in American History.
Published in 2022, the book included a foreword by Stewart. Since the passage of the PACT Act, Tim has continued his longtime efforts as a Veteran suicide prevention activist. He has helped organize and spoken at numerous events in Northeast Ohio and beyond.
“The Veteran community needs to do better at taking care of ourselves. We’re losing far too many to suicide. It’s going to take the entire Veteran community to speak out. Those who got help for their mental health are the ones who need to speak up the most. They can send the message that it’s okay to seek help.”
Tim said he was humbled to learn he was being honored by VSC of Summit County as the 2025 James C. Seminaroti Veteran of the Year.
“Winning this award reminded me that people are noticing what I’m doing and they’re not taking it for granted. They’re helping me get the word out even more.”
Winter Care for Your Flag
