Behind Purple Heart, Medical Hassle and Heartache

[Blue_In_AK]

This is long, but well worth reading. A very sad story that raises many questions.


http://community.adn.com/adn/node/144233

The Purple Heart ceremony on Fort Richardson a week ago began with the usual formality. Lines of uniformed soldiers took seats in the mess hall before a podium and a row of official flags. We stood to welcome the VIPs -- including Maj. Gen. William Troy, head of the U.S. Army in Alaska, and U.S. Sen. Mark Begich -- and then we sat again when we were told.

Troy gave a short speech. And then Begich took the podium. The senator asked the soldiers to tell him what they needed so he could take the message back to Washington, D.C. He said he wanted to make sure they were taken care of, that they weren't nickel-and-dimed.

Then Sgt. 1st Class Michael Waszak was introduced. He had been sent from Alaska to Iraq in February 2004. His mission was to train Iraqi soldiers. He was injured in August of that year in the town of Al Habbaniyah, west of Baghdad. He had been with his men, chasing a target over rooftops. There was a violent explosion. He was thrown in the air, then smashed to the ground. The Iraqi soldiers with him were killed.

<snip>

And then he turned to Begich. There was something he needed the senator to know, he said. There weren't enough doctors in Anchorage who would take the military health plan called Tricare because the program pays doctors so little. He needed a surgery and had to fly Outside. There was only one doctor in the city who would take his insurance and help him manage his pain.

"Tricare will not help us. Doctors will not take Tricare," he said. "That's what I ask you take to Washington."

<snip>

It's easiest to be at home, at the end of a road in Peters Creek, with nothing but mountains behind him. He's grateful for the support he's had from the military, he said. The doctors, nurses and counselors have kept him alive, he said. He'll retire from the military in February.

He told me he would like to sell their house and start over in Kentucky. He's been calling around down there, looking for a pain doctor. He estimates he's called 18 doctors, looking for one who will treat him.

But so far, none will take him on.