Smoothie104
09-25-2003, 10:14 AM
Wounded US Soldiers Charged For Food During Hospitalization
Thu Sep 25 2003 10:05:59 ET Imagine this. You're one of the many brave Americans who puts your life on the line to fight the war on terror. You're wounded in action. Your medical care is free. But much to your surprise, when you get your hospital discharge, you also get a bill for your hospital meals!
NBC's NIGHTLY NEWS reports: Daily dangers in Iraq, GI's being sniped at, wounded and killed, persisting, the casualties mounting. Marine Reserve Staff Sergeant Bill Murwin, a victim, knows as well as anyone the suddenness and pain of earning a purple heart." Murwin: "We were getting stoned, and a young man threw a hand grenade into my vehicle."
"Murwin foot had to be amputated at an Army hospital in Germany. Then came weeks of therapy at a Navy hospital in Washington. Here he was shocked he would lose his food allowance. And once home in Nevada, stunned again by a notice to pay the Army for the meals in Germany. That's right. Sergeant Murwin, about to be released from the Bethesda Navy Hospital, like many of the 1,300 wounded in Iraq, received a food bill, $8.10 a day."
All GIs "sent to war get a meal allowance of $8.10 a day, even though they're being fed free, if not well, in a war zone. But once hospitalized, the GI has to eat institutional food and reimburse the $8.10. That's the law."
"I've given my life to the marines corps for the last 13 years. And you guys are going to ask me to pay for a month's worth of food? There's something wrong with that." Francis: "Florida's Bill Young, who learned of Murwin's $210 food bill and paid it, moved in Congress today to change the law." Rep. Young: "I paid his bill because I wanted to make a statement. I wanted the leadership of the military hospitals to know that I am serious about this."
Thu Sep 25 2003 10:05:59 ET Imagine this. You're one of the many brave Americans who puts your life on the line to fight the war on terror. You're wounded in action. Your medical care is free. But much to your surprise, when you get your hospital discharge, you also get a bill for your hospital meals!
NBC's NIGHTLY NEWS reports: Daily dangers in Iraq, GI's being sniped at, wounded and killed, persisting, the casualties mounting. Marine Reserve Staff Sergeant Bill Murwin, a victim, knows as well as anyone the suddenness and pain of earning a purple heart." Murwin: "We were getting stoned, and a young man threw a hand grenade into my vehicle."
"Murwin foot had to be amputated at an Army hospital in Germany. Then came weeks of therapy at a Navy hospital in Washington. Here he was shocked he would lose his food allowance. And once home in Nevada, stunned again by a notice to pay the Army for the meals in Germany. That's right. Sergeant Murwin, about to be released from the Bethesda Navy Hospital, like many of the 1,300 wounded in Iraq, received a food bill, $8.10 a day."
All GIs "sent to war get a meal allowance of $8.10 a day, even though they're being fed free, if not well, in a war zone. But once hospitalized, the GI has to eat institutional food and reimburse the $8.10. That's the law."
"I've given my life to the marines corps for the last 13 years. And you guys are going to ask me to pay for a month's worth of food? There's something wrong with that." Francis: "Florida's Bill Young, who learned of Murwin's $210 food bill and paid it, moved in Congress today to change the law." Rep. Young: "I paid his bill because I wanted to make a statement. I wanted the leadership of the military hospitals to know that I am serious about this."