Congress Investigates: Is the Military Denying Medical Care to Soldiers?

Congress Investigates: Is the Military Denying Medical Care to Soldiers?

Sergeant Chuck Luther seeks justice after his torture at the hands of the US military.

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As The Nation‘s Joshua Kors reported in his article, "Disposable Soldiers," since 2001, over 26,500 soldiers have been pressured into signing Personality Disorder discharges, which essentially relieves the military of all responsibility for any treatment the soldiers will require after their term of duty. In his article, Kors recounts the story of Sergeant Chuck Luther’s torture at the hands of the US militery: After suffering serious injuries by mortar fire in Iraq, the military kept Sergeant Luther in a storage closet for a month under enforced sleep deprivation until he agreed to sign a Personaliy Disorders discharge.

"To be told that I was lying, that was a real smack in the face," said Luther to Kors. "Then, when they said ‘personality disorder,’ I was really confused. I didn’t understand how a problem with my personality could cause deafness or blindness or shoulder pain."

In this video, Sergeant Luther seeks justice for himself and for soldiers like him in a hearing before the House Veteran’s Affairs Committee in September. Showing obvious disgust at the actions of the army officials responsible for the discharge of injured soldiers on Personality Disorders, VA committee Chairman Bob Filner interrogates those responsible for pressuring injured soldiers to sign Personality Disorders discharges to save money on providing medical care for soldiers.

While the military continues to move very slowly to redress their grave misconduct, visit JoshuaKors.com to learn about what you can do to support injured soldiers’ rights to disability benefits and medical care.

—Joanna Chiu 

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