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How the Pentagon Cheats Iraq
Vets Out of Medical Care and Disability Pay
SHERWOOD ROSS
Infowars.net
Monday April 2, 2007
Over the past six years, some 22,500 soldiers have been discharged
on grounds of "personality disorder" --- a condition that
can be alleged to have existed prior to their tour of duty --- thus
absolving the Pentagon of its obligation to provide their medical
care and pay their benefits.
A six-month investigation by reporter Joshua Kors for the April
9th "The Nation" magazine learned of "multiple cases"
in which "soldiers wounded in Iraq are suspiciously diagnosed
as having a personality disorder, then prevented from collecting
benefits."
According to Kors, "The conditions of their discharge have
infuriated many in the military community, including the injured
soldiers and their families, veterans' rights groups, even military
officials required to process these dismissals." They say the
military is purposely misdiagnosing soldiers "to cheat them
out of a lifetime of disability and medical benefits, thereby saving
billions in expenses."
With an average disability payment of about $8,900 a year and a
medical cost of about $5,000 per year over a 40-year period per
soldier, separating 22,500 of them would save the Pentagon $8-billion
in disability pay and $4.5-billion in medical care over their lifetimes,
the article says.
Specialist Jon Town, of Findlay, Ohio, was separated on a "personality
disorder" diagnosis even though in October, 2004, a 107-millimeter
rocket struck two feet over his head as he stood in the doorway
of his battalion's headquarters in Ramadi, Iraq. Town's ears were
leaking blood from the blast and rocket shrapnel was removed from
his neck. The blast caused substantial deafness, and he suffers
from memory failure and depression as well. Inexplicably, doctors
at Fort Carson, Colo., diagnosed Town with "personality disorder",
depriving him of disability and medical benefits.
Russell Terry, founder of the Iraq War Veterans Organization pointed
out that each soldier is screened psychologically when they join
the military and asks, "if all these soldiers really did have
a severe pre-existing condition, how did they get into the military
in the first place?"
In the last six years, according to "The Nation," the
Army alone has diagnosed and discharged more than 5,600 soldiers
because of personality disorder, and their numbers continue to rise.
Between January and November of last year, 1,086 soldiers were discharged
on such grounds. One military official who was not identified told
Kors, "It's like, suddenly everybody (on my base) has a personality
disorder. They're saving a buck. And they're saving the VA money
too. It's all about money."
In the case of veteran Town, he was told to give back the bulk
of his $15,000 enlistment bonus and left Ft. Carson owing the government
more than $3,000. According to the magazine, Fort Carson psychologist
Mark Wexler assured Town he would receive disability benefits, VA
medical care, and would get to keep his bonus. When he found out
he was being discharged empty-handed, Town said, "It was a
total shock. I felt like I'd been betrayed by the Army." When
asked if doctors at Fort Carson were assuring patients set for a
5-13 pre-existing condition discharge they would receive benefits,
Colonel Steven Knorr, Wexler's boss, replied, "I don't believe
they're doing that."
Other veterans contacted by Kors, however, said military doctors
tried to force the diagnosis upon them and turned a blind eye to
physical ailments and post traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Army
Specialist William Wooldridge said he struck and killed a young
girl who was pushed in front of his ammunition truck in Iraq and
has heard voices and suffered hallucinations ever since. He was
discharged with "personality disorder" but 18 months later
a review board in Memphis voided that 5-13 dismissal, stating his
PTSD was so severe he was, in fact, "totally disabled."
Another veteran, Chris Mosier, of Des Moines, Iowa, put a note
on the front door of his home saying the Iraqis were after him and
then shot himself. His mother, Linda, said her son's problems began
in Iraq when a truck in front of his was blown up by a roadside
bomb and the men inside were burned alive. "He was there at
the end to pick up the hands and arms," Ms. Mosier said. "They
take a normal kid, he comes back messed up, then nobody was there
for him when he came back. They discharged him so they didn't' have
to treat him," she added.
Steve Robinson, director of veterans affairs at Veterans for America,
a Washington, D.C.-based soldiers' rights group, pointed out military
doctors have been facing an overflow of wounded soldiers and a shortage
of rooms, supplies and time to treat them. "By calling PTSD
a personality disorder, they usher one soldier out quickly, freeing
up space for the three or four who are waiting," he said.
A lawyer for Trial Defense Services, an Army unit to guide soldiers
through their 5-13 discharge and who was not identified by name,
told reporter Kors: "Right now, the Army is eating its own.
What I want to see is these soldiers getting the right diagnosis,
so they can get the right help, not be thrown to the wolves right
away. That is what they're doing."
As for veteran Town --- whose case was brought by Robinson to the
attention of Deputy Surgeon General Gale Pollock and others ---
he says he is doing his best to keep his head in check and that
his nightmares have diminished. "I have my good days and my
bad days," he said. "It all depends on whether I wake
up in Findlay or Iraq."
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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