FORT BRAGG, N.C. — There was nothing dramatic about how Spec. Cristapher Zuetlau’s career in the Army came to an end: The Colorado native stepped in a hole. But the damage to the tank crewman’s wrenched back was so brutal he can barely walk.
The Army agreed he was no longer fit to serve but in doing so determined his disability was not severe enough to warrant long-term care by the military. That turned his health care over to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which left him with no retirement benefits and cut off his family from government health care.
Thousands of similar stories caused veterans’ advocates to protest that the military was manipulating disability ratings to save money, and Congress last year ordered the Pentagon to accept appeals from wounded and injured troops.
So far, officials haven’t examined a single case.
“Congress finally took action to give those troops a fair hearing, and now the Department of Defense is dragging its feet,” said Vanessa Williamson, the policy director at New York-based Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a veterans’ advocacy group.
“I feel like the Army has ripped me off,” said Zuetlau’s wife, Breana. “When he joined the service, he was a fully functioning man. When he left the service, he is like my child. I have to take care of his needs.”
The VA rated Zuetlau 100 percent disabled. The Social Security Administration found the Aurora native eligible for disability benefits for the back injury and several other ailments, including mental-health issues.
Eileen M. Lainez, a spokeswoman in the Defense Press Office at the Pentagon, said in an e-mail the panel’s creation was delayed because the Defense Department had to create the application process, Internet information sites and develop training programs for newly hired staff.
Veterans’ advocates said the delays reinforce a belief the Pentagon trying to move wounded veterans off its financial books so that the service doesn’t have to pay for long-term disability care. It is a claim the Pentagon strongly denies.
