Bastards.

LA Times:

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.

(h/t JP)

Turns out the Pentagon has recently made a change in its definition of “combat-related” injuries, and there are a whole lot of wounded soldiers who won’t be receiving benefits despite having been injured while on duty. They claim that this change is consistent with a recent law passed by Congress. Sen. Carl Levin insists that this was not the intent of Congress, and the Disabled American Veterans claim the Pentagon unlawfully created internal policy based on the legislation which goes outside of its definitions.

Meshell was denied her benefits because, she says, her injuries would only be considered combat-related if she had been struck by shrapnel. It took Dixon half a year to get his status corrected, a process complicated by the fact that he now has trouble forming memories and had to write everything down in notebooks.

Many times, soldiers aren’t even told why their injuries aren’t “combat-related.”

Yes, this is our administration. These are the people who claim we “don’t support the troops.” And it’s almost like they sit around and try to think up ways to screw the people in our military. This administration’s record on veterans’ affairs hasn’t just been one of neglect, it’s been aggressively bad, as if it was a policy of contempt. They’ve wrapped themselves in the flag and then spit on our soldiers when they’ve come home. Ignoring widespread PTSD and homeless veterans, watching suicide rates balloon with little action, blocking tortured US veterans from suing their torturers, even opposing the new GI Bill of Rights because they were afraid it would make things too good for veterans.

But we don’t support the troops.