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Reporters' BLOG |
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March 2008
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It's hard to believe that it could be true. Four years after an Iraq war veteran shattered his shoulder and damaged his spine while chasing an insurgent in Iraq is now told that the aches in his legs and his slight limp might be because he's getting older. Aaron Cromley is 37 years old. He's one of many veterans who answered their nation's call and put their lives at risk to serve in a war zone, only to feel as if their nation turned its back on them once they got home. Cromley is one of two veterans that we profiled in a story about veterans not getting the benefits, in the form of medical care, that they need and believe they deserve after serving in the military. The other veteran is Louie Schmidt, who was treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder while serving in the Army, but was discharged for having a "pre-existing" personality disorder. Not only did his discharge mean that he wasn't going to get the benefits of a veteran who was injured while serving in combat, but was told that he must repay his re-enlistment bonus, plus interest. The told was almost $15,000. Missouri U.S. Senator Kit Bond and Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Obama are some of the members of Congress calling on the president to set up a review panel to examine some of the 22,500 personality disorder military discharges since 2001. I've listed a link to their letter, below. Many veterans are complaining that the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration are using up service members and throwing them away. The VA says that it doesn't try to withhold medical treatment to vets to keep costs low, but a nurse who spent 25 years working in VA hospitals told me that it's common practice to avoid expensive treatment to keep costs down. A number of people, representing several organizations, have come forward to offer help to the veterans who were profiled in our story, including a representative of the VA. I've forwarded their names and numbers to Cromley and Schmidt. I hope they can help. In the meantime, if you might be of the opinion that we've taken a few cases and blown them out of proportion, I've included some links below, to other news reports about this issue. Also, I've included the web addresses of organizations who are working to help veterans.
A veterans testimony before Congress ABC News Report The Nation Iraq War Veterans Organization The santuary for veterans |
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