Some PTSD Vets get no disability or medical benefits

[Guest guest]

For entire articles about the military classifying PTSD as a preexisting

" personality disorder " and then not paying disability or medical benefits &

requiring the return of a portion of re-enlistment bonuses, go to link. I

included some excerpts below.

 

_http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070409/kors_

(http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070409/kors)

 

_How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits _ ()

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

The Fine Print

In the Army's separations manual it's called Regulation 635-200, Chapter

5-13: " Separation Because of Personality Disorder. " It's an alluring choice for

a cash-strapped military because enacting it is quick and cheap. The

Department of Veterans Affairs doesn't have to provide medical care to soldiers

dismissed with personality disorder. That's because under Chapter 5-13,

personality

disorder is a pre-existing condition. The VA is only required to treat

wounds sustained during service.

 

Soldiers discharged under 5-13 can't collect disability pay either. To

receive those benefits, a soldier must be evaluated by a medical board, which

must

confirm that he is wounded and that his wounds stem from combat. The process

takes several months, in contrast with a 5-13 discharge, which can be

wrapped up in a few days.

If a soldier dismissed under 5-13 hasn't served out his contract, he has to

give back a slice of his re-enlistment bonus as well. That amount is often

larger than the soldier's final paycheck. As a result, on the day of their

discharge, many injured vets learn that they owe the Army several thousand

dollars.

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

My husband had buttock shot off in Army service, and Im not allowed to

be his widow (he died few years later), nor help with funeral. He

wasnt given any help except prescriptions for anti-depressants.

 

This is in UK.

 

Mags

 

 

 

 

 

 

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