Wounded told "It's not a combat wound."

With so many in congress also being lawyers, it boggles the mind how they can write these rules without understanding what the language they choose actually means and how it will be interpreted.

This is not the first time they did something because it sounded good at the time only to but our veterans through torture. In the 90's they managed to come up with a rule to allow the VA to collect for any treatments they did for "non-service connected" medical needs. That sounded good but what this rule allowed was for veterans with a claim tied up or on appeal to be charged for even conditions caused by their service. A PTSD veteran with a claim tied up is charged for his treatment and tests until the claim is approved. A veteran with Agent Orange poisoning is charged for his treatments until he can prove it happened because of his/her service. The list goes on and on because the congress did not understand the way the VA works. Any claim that is not approved as "service connected" is not service connected until they give the claim their stamp of approval. The veteran is charged until they prove it because no one paid attention.

Now our new veterans are being wounded in rollovers and accidents, but they are told that was not combat related. Excuse me! If it happened in Iraq or Afghanistan, were they there on vacation? These are military campaigns for Heaven's sake! A roadside bomb blows up and a soldier ends up with TBI from the blast and it's pretty much up in the air if the DOD regards it as "combat" wound.

Injured veterans engaged in new combat
Dixon Family
Marine Cpl. James Dixon in Iraq.
In a little-noticed regulation change, the Pentagon's definition of combat-related disabilities is narrowed, costing some wounded veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits.
By David Zucchino
5:56 PM PST, November 24, 2008
Marine Cpl. James Dixon was wounded twice in Iraq -- by a roadside bomb and a land mine. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a dislocated hip and hearing loss. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Army Sgt. Lori Meshell shattered a hip and crushed her back and knees while diving for cover during a mortar attack in Iraq. She has undergone a hip replacement and knee reconstruction and needs at least three more surgeries.


In each case, the Pentagon ruled that their disabilities were not combat-related.

In a little-noticed regulation change in March, the military's definition of combat-related disabilities was narrowed, costing some injured veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits -- and triggering outrage from veterans' advocacy groups.

The Pentagon said the change was consistent with Congress' intent when it passed a "wounded warrior" law in January. Narrowing the combat-related definition was necessary to preserve the "special distinction for those who incur disabilities while participating in the risk of combat, in contrast with those injured otherwise," William J. Carr, deputy undersecretary of Defense, wrote in a letter to the 1.3-million-member Disabled American Veterans.


The group, which has called the policy revision a "shocking level of disrespect for those who stood in harm's way," is lobbying to have the change rescinded.
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