The Nation: How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits

[babylonsister]

:mad: :grr: :thumbsdown:


http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20070409&s=kors

How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits

by JOSHUA KORS



Jon Town has spent the last few years fighting two battles, one against his body, the other against the US Army. Both began in October 2004 in Ramadi, Iraq. He was standing in the doorway of his battalion's headquarters when a 107-millimeter rocket struck two feet above his head. The impact punched a piano-sized hole in the concrete facade, sparked a huge fireball and tossed the 25-year-old Army specialist to the floor, where he lay blacked out among the rubble.

"The next thing I remember is waking up on the ground." Men from his unit had gathered around his body and were screaming his name. "They started shaking me. But I was numb all over," he says. "And it's weird because... because for a few minutes you feel like you're not really there. I could see them, but I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear anything. I started shaking because I thought I was dead."

Eventually the rocket shrapnel was removed from Town's neck and his ears stopped leaking blood. But his hearing never really recovered, and in many ways, neither has his life. A soldier honored twelve times during his seven years in uniform, Town has spent the last three struggling with deafness, memory failure and depression. By September 2006 he and the Army agreed he was no longer combat-ready.

But instead of sending Town to a medical board and discharging him because of his injuries, doctors at Fort Carson, Colorado, did something strange: They claimed Town's wounds were actually caused by a "personality disorder." Town was then booted from the Army and told that under a personality disorder discharge, he would never receive disability or medical benefits.

Town is not alone. A six-month investigation has uncovered multiple cases in which soldiers wounded in Iraq are suspiciously diagnosed as having a personality disorder, then prevented from collecting benefits. 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 like Town and that it's doing so for one reason: to cheat them out of a lifetime of disability and medical benefits, thereby saving billions in expenses.

more...

[Cha]

1. Jon Town(if the poor guy is able)

and his fellow Soldiers who are getting the shaft from the bushits should take their show on the road and warn Americans. "Not only do we give our life, limbs, and mental health to the fucktards..they kick us and stomp on us when we're not usable cannon fodder any longer."

[babylonsister]

2. I am just sickened by this. Support the troops indeed.

:cry:

[Cha]

3. It's beyond comprehension..

tragically, it's expected from caligulas.

Wake The Fook Up Soldiers and their Families.

[az chela]

4. Ok,they cant legally do this

he needs to contact the DAV or Jeanne A. Steffin.Attorney at law.Pasadena.ca
626-793-6969.She only handles these kind of cases and to my knowledge has sued the government many times and never lost .She Takes the case without any money up front,she gets 25 or 30 % of the settlement and will get his disability back.She travels all over the US taking these cases.

[Monkeyman]

11. That's way Bush wants no legal help for these kids

Larry Scott of VA Watchdog did a rant on that subject about a year ago

[az chela]

5. Hey everybody VOTE THIS UP

[ClintonTyree]

9. It was posted and voted up yesterday....

just sayin'. People aren't ignoring it.

[babylonsister]

12. Thanks. I missed that. nt

[az chela]

16. I missed it so thanks so much for posting it babylon

This needs to be spread far and wide.When I talked to the lady at the DAV she said there are so many benefits and loans available for the vets but they are never told about them!!!!!
This was several years ago so this is nothing new

[KT2000]

6. This is a script

that is used in workmen's compensation as well. State self-insured schemes put corporations in charge of determining disability rather than the state and they utilize the bogus psychogenic diagnosis.
Corporations use that in their liability cases.
To buttress their claims, they have filled the medical literature with papers they can use to support them in court. They are weak papers but are allowed because they are published in prestigious medical journals.
As I understand it, an HMO exec is in the VA now.

[gulfcoastliberal]

7. K&R

What BULLSHIT that all these "emergency" military appropriations do ANYTHING regarding improving the well being of troops.

[BearSquirrel2]

8. My ass they support the troops ...

A yellow ribbon does not constitute support for the troops. And voting Republican shows contempt for US soldiers who are being abused, misused and thrown away by this administration.

[Monkeyman]

10. This make me angry kick it and keep kicking it until we all read this please

[Cabcere]

13. That's horrible!

:cry: :grr: :puke:

Kicking this because I can't actually kick the shit-for-souls bastards who are doing this to our soldiers. K&R.

[Bozita]

14. off to the Greatest Page

R#5

[bonito]

15. Outrageous total disregard for americans ensnared in their illegal war

Just what are we fighting for? $$$ for the ruling corporate profiteers.

[Pastiche423]

17. How many others are going through the same thing?

I want to find out who made up the "personality disorder" bullshit.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

18. Cruel and Inhuman Punishment

:grr: :cry:

[Karenina]

19. Population reduction

one-by-one.

[2008]

20. k&r (nt)

[Maestro]

21. Disgusting!

I can't really write any more.

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. "For food, they gave me poison; and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink." Psalm 68 (69)

[ClayZ]

23. Hell's Bells are ringing!

[Morgana LaFey]

24. "First, do no harm."

I wonder how those MDs square this deceit with the Hippocratic Oath.