Are we taking care of our veterans when they return from combat?

I read today about a report that the secretary of defense is due to present to congress by March 2010 that will outline ways to improve the tracking of combat experience among service members that are typically in support roles. The goal of this is to update the DD-214 military forms, discharge papers, for military personnel so that service members who have seen combat are not being denied benefits for combat-related ailments when they return.

The biggest issue that prompted this action is that women service members are not having their combat experiences noted and are then being denied care by providers who assume they have not been in combat situations. The associated press has an interesting article today that ran in several newspapers about the unique struggles women are encountering when they are returning from combat.

Apparently, back in July 2009, Senator Murray introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 that required the Pentagon to begin studying ways to note on military records when service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have been in combat situations. This action was motivated by the concern that many women are not having their combat experience noted and are therefor being denied needed services. The issue is that technically the Defense Department bars women from serving in assignments where the primary mission is to engage in direct ground combat. But because of the nature of the conflict in the middle east where there are no clear front lines, women end up in the middle of the action, in roles such as military police officers, pilots, drivers and gunners on convoys. Yahoo reported today that, in addition to the 120-plus deaths, more than 650 women have been wounded in the ongoing war.

It breaks my heart to think of any veteran who has served our country being denied the healthcare he or she needs as a result of injuries sustained while serving our country.

Do you, or anyone you know, have experiences with receiving the health care services needed upon returning from combat? Were those experiences good or bad?