Where are Our Priorities, US Military?

Here I sit at my computer reading an article and the corresponding open letter penned by the gentleman in question, hand over my mouth and blood boiling. 

D.J. Skelton

​Major D.J. Skelton is a U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He led an infantry platoon at Second Fallujah and later commanded an infantry company in Afghanistan. 

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Major Skelton was seriously wounded in combat and is living with the aftermath of those injuries. 

A round pierced Skelton’s face, went through his cheek, tumbled downwards into his mouth, destroying it as well as his soft palate. After that, it exited out of his left eye socket.

He had taken an AK-47 round through his upper left arm and was struck by an RPG.

“My left arm was destroyed. My hand was intact, but everything from the wrist to the elbow was destroyed,” Skelton said in the release. “The head of the RPG broke and went through my right leg. My ammunition belt got hot and began cooking off. Those rounds, along with various enemy AK-47 rounds, went through my right arm and left shoulder.”

Less than 10 minutes after getting hit, Skelton was at a nearby combat support hospital and was later taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., spending months recovering from his injuries.

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The author of the open letter, D.J. Skelton, pictured near the Golden Gate Bridge. (D.J. Skelton)

Because of issues with his mouth, he was having issues eating and drinking, something that has apparently happened before. He called the VA, who told him to go to his local emergency room and have them put in a feeding tube. With a feeding tube comes liquids that must be put in it to actually feed him, and apparently he had used a brand called Jevity for this purpose before. 

This time, however, the VA persuaded him to switch to a different brand, Diabetisource. 

Six days later, he receives a letter from the VA telling him they don't cover Diabetisource, and he would have to find and pay for the feeding tube liquid himself. 

Imagine that. 

Now, a lot of you are aware of the issues with my father's illness as well. My father passed in April 2016 from Glioblastoma (aggressive brain cancer; same illness as John McCain). We had our own fun with the VA. At first, they told my father that they were not set up to do chemotherapy and radiation at our local VA. None of his medications were covered. And when the time came, he was not welcome in their nursing home, either. This is after it was "assumed" he had contracted the illness as a effect of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, something many other veterans have won claims for and many more - and their widows - are still fighting for. 

In my father's case, a well worded letter to a state senator (Richard Burr), opened the flood gates, and suddenly they were set up to do chemotherapy and radiation! And his medications were suddenly covered, too! Imagine that! He was still not welcome in their nursing home, but we figured the largest battles were won and let it go. 

I have friends - more than there should be - who are fighting with the VA over various combat related injuries and the ongoing treatment, and illnesses contracted overseas, from hepatitis to hearing loss. Each of these people describes dealing with the VA over these cases as being like pulling teeth (OK, let's be fair, they use much more colorful wording than that, but we're keeping it clean here). None of this should be, especially for injuries during combat. 

And especially when the soldier is following the suggestions of the VA, like Major Skelton above had done. 

However. 

Just this month, a soldier - active duty - received gender reassignment surgery in a private hospital covered by the military. This surgery isn't just a snip job. It requires hormones, therapy, and a list of other things, which can also include cosmetic surgery to make the person appear to be the gender they have chosen. 

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"Because this service member had already begun a sex-reassignment course of treatment, and the treating doctor deemed this surgery medically necessary, a waiver was approved by the director of the Defense Health Agency. The Supplemental Health Care Program will cover this surgery in accordance with the Department's interim guidance on transgender Service members."

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So this person's sex change was "medically necessary" and deemed OK to cover, but Major Skelton's feeding tube liquid isn't covered?! The feeding tube liquid the VA expressly suggested he use?! 

Now, to be clear, I have not found details of anything else covered for this sex change other than the surgery itself. I assume the surgery was the changing of the genitalia and not the cosmetic surgery. It does not say whether hormones and therapy were covered as well (from other items I have previously read, however, it appears these things are covered). It also does not state whether or not this person was already transitioning before they entered the military. So as far as I see it, we're not being given enough information here, including how long this person will be non-deployable. As usual, the news sources covering this story are more concerned with this being a big middle finger to Trump's transgender ban than they are to giving real details about how our tax dollars are being spent. 

Major Skelton's injuries were from combat. I don't have an issue with tax dollars being spent for his care. But unless this person lost their gender identity in combat, I think the priorities of our military are a little screwed up. We have veterans sleeping on the streets, freezing to death. Just the other day, we were all getting teary eyed over the veteran who helped the stranded woman and is being helped by a GoFundMe campaign to get him off the street. Why does he need a GoFundMe? Why aren't we helping to get this guy off the street? We can't help homeless vets, but we can cut off their willies?! 

Look. I'm a very live and let live kind of gal. I really could not care less if people want to change their genders. I really couldn't. It's your body, do whatever the hell you want to to it. It doesn't affect me at all. But this does. This is tax dollars. The government is 100% tax payer funded. So that affects me directly. And I believe those tax dollars should go to giving the best care to combat wounded, those who got sick from military practices or from exposure to illness in foreign lands (with the exception of STDs),  and homeless vets. Once all these folks are being cared for with the best possible care - which they currently aren't - then we can discuss whether or not we're going to cut off people's willies with tax payer money and make them non-deployable for extended periods while still getting paid as a soldier. In the meantime, feed Major Skelton. Like, immediately.