Why Didn't DOD take care of Spc. Shaine Lymn?

Church helping soldier's family after untimely death
Press and Sun-Bulletin - Binghamton, NY,USA
By Nancy Dooling


A young soldier who wanted to go to war but died before he was assigned overseas received a full military funeral before a standing-room only crowd in his church.

Spec. Shaine Lymn died two days after being taken off life support at Wilson Regional Medical Center in Johnson City, friends said.

Lymn, who turned 20 on April 7, did not have medical insurance, leaving his family with significant bills to pay.
He collapsed April 2 while jogging on Binghamton's West Side.

Lymn, a mechanic with the 204th Combat Engineer Battalion based at the West End Armory in Binghamton, died the evening of April 13, his family said.

Lymn's church, Spirit and Truth Assembly in West Oneonta, is collecting donations to help pay for his care. The young soldier, a member of the National Guard since 2005, had been in Wilson's intensive care unit since April 2.

Lymn's funeral service was emotional. "I had to grit my teeth to keep from crying," said Barbara Beebe, commander of American Legion Post 1700 in West Endicott.

Lymn's family lives in Morris. The soldier lived in a Vestal apartment while working full-time at the Armory. Relatives said Lymn dreamed of a career as a soldier and wanted to be assigned to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Lymn joined the guard at 17, family members said. Members of the 204th have been sent to both foreign postings.

Unknown to Lymn, a virus silently attacked his heart. Despite the efforts of a fellow soldier and an ambulance crew to revive him, Lymn's brain was deprived of oxygen for too long, said his father, Thomas Lymn.

The soldier never regained consciousness, family members said.

Spc. Shaine Lymn was a member of the National Guard yet according to this report, the military did not cover his medical care. This makes no sense at all. How could he not be covered for his medical care? I don't understand this at all. Does anyone know why? Does anyone know how many more this happened to? Why is the National Guard treated like a second class "military" when most of them have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan? Isn't it bad enough that they have to leave their families just like the regular military does but also have to leave their jobs?