A different GI bill
A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 12, 2003
Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Murwin answered his country's call to duty in Iraq, was seriously wounded and lost part of his left foot. A grateful nation considers him a hero. The military, however, treated Murwin as if he were a deadbeat, threatening to turn his name over to a collection agency for an overdue debt.
Here is the most outrageous part of this story, which was reported by Times staff writer Bill Adair. The debt was for food Murwin ate while he was hospitalized, recovering from his war injuries. An obscure law passed in 1981 requires soldiers to reimburse the government for their $8.10 daily food allowance while in a military hospital because they are being fed for free.
Murwin had little choice where he ate. After a short stay in a hospital in Germany, he was transferred to a U.S. medical center. In all, he owed about $243 for hospital food that, he concedes, wasn't too bad. He got one of the bills in the mail, and three days later a warning that said the payment was overdue and would be referred to a collection agency.
When Rep. C.W. Bill Young and his wife, Beverly, heard about Murwin's plight, they helped pay his bill. And because Young is one of the most powerful politicians in Washington, he was able to do something else - file legislation to repeal the 1981 law.
"Many (soldiers) will be handicapped for the rest of their lives, and we're asking them to pay $8.10 a day for their food," said an incredulous Young. "There's something really wrong with that."
It's not only wrong. It's an insult to our men and women in uniform. The Pentagon shouldn't have any trouble dipping into its $380-billion budget to find enough money to cover the cost of hospital meals for wounded soldiers. Meanwhile, Congress should throw out this unfair law as soon as possible. |
