Off The Cuff

Taking Responsibility For What Happens

Posted by: From Arkansas in Commentary on Mar 23 2008

Welcome back!

As has happened before, the military is causing problems for a family due to their own actions or lack thereof. The United States Army, which should be attentive to family concerns and welfare, once again proves that it’s own interests far exceed those of families and soldiers. A case in point is the soldier who got hurt in a roadside bomb attack. He received a severe head wound (the words of the army). The blast occurred last May. He survived that.

He was treated for the head wound in Germany and then was transported back to Fort Hood. Since then, he required surgery on his face. It was extensive. That was in August. In November, people saw him on a Friday in his barracks. On Nov. 12th, a Monday, he was found dead in his barracks. No one had seen him since the Friday before.

Here is the sticky part. They have ruled out suicide and accidental death. Unfortunately, the autopsy could not be conclusive. So what happens now? They cannot determine why he died. Because of that, the Army will NOT say it was combat related. Of course, because of that, the family gets to sit in limbo. They want him to be honored as a combat soldier. The Army says no.

And the Army says that lots of soldiers come home, have medical problems from their tours of duty and then die but are not considered combat related due to the length of time gone from the military. The question here is…should a soldier, who’s wound did not kill him right away, be considered combat related when the original wound that was likely the major cause of death, get to be honored like that? Good question, isn’t it.

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