Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Feds: Wounded by an IED on duty in Iraq = not a combat related injury.
Quick! Let's give the federal government ownership of the entire U.S. health care system right away!
These beancounters are just vile. You have to watch them like hawks, because they will screw a veteran just as soon as look at one.
Ace is trying to pin the change on a law passed by Democrats in congress, but I don't think you can make that case from that article. This is the same crowd that screws soldiers out of well-earned education benefits as well.
Splash, out
Jason
Marine Cpl. James Dixon was wounded twice in Iraq -- by a roadside bomb and a land mine. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a dislocated hip and hearing loss. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Army Sgt. Lori Meshell shattered a hip and crushed her back and knees while diving for cover during a mortar attack in Iraq. She has undergone a hip replacement and knee reconstruction and needs at least three more surgeries.
In each case, the Pentagon ruled that their disabilities were not combat-related.
In a little-noticed regulation change in March, the military's definition of combat-related disabilities was narrowed, costing some injured veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits -- and triggering outrage from veterans' advocacy groups.
The Pentagon said the change was consistent with Congress' intent when it passed a "wounded warrior" law in January. Narrowing the combat-related definition was necessary to preserve the "special distinction for those who incur disabilities while participating in the risk of combat, in contrast with those injured otherwise," William J. Carr, deputy undersecretary of Defense, wrote in a letter to the 1.3-million-member Disabled American Veterans.
These beancounters are just vile. You have to watch them like hawks, because they will screw a veteran just as soon as look at one.
Ace is trying to pin the change on a law passed by Democrats in congress, but I don't think you can make that case from that article. This is the same crowd that screws soldiers out of well-earned education benefits as well.
Splash, out
Jason
Labels: soldiers' issues, veterans
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