Mother believes her son was a casualty of the war in Iraq - Army says no

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hgGkZpMYYJ4o4vErstC_jr-rAH3AD8VJ9OM00

Mother Fights Army Over Son's Death

By ROBERT IMRIE – 2 days ago

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — Joan McDonald believes her son was a casualty of the war in Iraq, but the Army says that while he did suffer a severe head wound in a bomb blast, the cause of his death is undetermined, keeping him off the casualty list.

She and her family are demanding more answers in the death of Sgt. James W. McDonald.

"I don't want it to be an undetermined cause of death," said Joan McDonald. "That is ridiculous."

McDonald, 26, was injured in a roadside bomb blast in Iraq last May. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Hood, Texas. After treatment in Germany, McDonald returned to Fort Hood and underwent extensive facial surgery in August.

His body was found in his barracks apartment Nov. 12, a Monday. He was last seen alive the previous Friday.

How dare she question the military/industrial complex?

to their credit, they did call an accidental overdose of meds a casualty a while back - I guess logic beng he was on the meds because of the head injury

Personally, I think that anyone with serious injury, whose life has been drastically changed, who is dealing with special circumstances due to the injury, is a casualty if they die of anything other than old age. Whether they take a fall, accidantal overdose, or in some cases use their weapon on themselves, there is a direct causal relationship the DoD should acknowledge.

If they can't prove a clear cause not related then its on them.