Family questions care after wounded GI dies

Family questions care after wounded GI dies
By Ryan Lenz - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 9, 2007 22:19:03 EDT

An Indiana National Guardsman who died while in the care of an Army unit for wounded soldiers was alone, in excruciating pain and had not been seen by doctors for days, his family said Tuesday.

Sgt. Gerald Cassidy, 32, of Westfield, Ind., died in a chair on the third floor of a renovated barracks at Fort Knox, Ky., in September — five months after arriving at the post with what his family said was brain damage suffered in a roadside explosion in Iraq.

Cassidy’s mother, Kay McMullen, of Carmel, Ind., said the manner of his death — and inconsistent treatment that included the Army denying him pain medication — cast doubt on the quality of care for service members if the severely wounded are being left to fend for themselves.

“He died because the Army didn’t care for him,” she said tearfully. “He came back from Iraq, and they killed him.”

Military officials on Tuesday declined to comment on specifics of Cassidy’s case until an investigation is completed.

A military autopsy had not been fully completed Tuesday, but results of an independent examination performed at the request of the family could not determine a cause of death. That autopsy, however, found Cassidy had been dead for hours before being found and may have been unconscious for days.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_geraldcassidy_071009/



uhc comment: It's looks like they didn't get the 'Support Our Troops' memo.