Feb 10, 2008 :: Marines, asthma, and the VA (Man with asthma battling to get back into the Marines)

Here is a perfect govt beauracracy case: medically discharged for asthma, and suffering both the direct and indirect liabiities of a medical discharge from the marines, the VA won't give benefits because they medically evaluated him as not having asthma.

The twist is that all he wants is to serve the rest of his 20 years and retire, not the medical benefits from the VA.

I figured he's five years older than me: 42. and wants to be a sergeant again. wow. that's motivated.

Man with asthma battling to get back into the Marines -- dailypress.com

When Glenn Butorac enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1983, he intended to make the military his career.

After 10 years of honorable service, he was given a severance check and told to hang up his uniform.

In 1993, after Butorac felt tightness in his chest while running with his unit, the Corps medically discharged him.

He had asthma, military doctors wrote in his medical file.

Now 42 and living in Newport News, Butorac is fighting to get back into the service, to be reinstated at least as a sergeant — his rank when he left the service — and to finish his military career.