Son of Sam, Service-Connected Entitlements, and Disabled Veteran Prisoners
![handle is hein.journals/gmlr25 and id is 312 raw text is:
2018]
SON OF SAM, SERVICE-CONNECTED ENTITLEMENTS,
AND DISABLED VETERAN PRISONERS
Jennifer D. Oliva*
INTRODUCTION
In a great war for the right the one great debt owed by the nation is that to the men who go to
the front and pay with their bodies for the faith that is in them. '
Modem war is about many things, but its most defining feature is the rupturing, wounding,
and destroying of human bodies.2
U.S. Army veteran Billy Smith3 served back-to-back combat tours in
Iraq and Afghanistan. While on patrol near the end of his second deployment,
Billy was the victim of an improvised explosive device (ED) blast, which
killed his battle buddy and left parts of his legs and genitals shredded and
burned. Billy is no longer capable of procreating.4 Moreover, the brain injury
Billy suffered from the explosion makes sleeping difficult. When Billy does
sleep, he experiences horrifying nightmares about the lED blast and the loss
of his battle buddy. A United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
physician prescribes Billy heavy doses of an oral opioid to ease his chronic
pain and help him rest.
Associate Professor of Law and Public Health; West Virginia University; Director, Veterans Ad-
vocacy Clinic, West Virginia University College of Law; J.D. 2004, Georgetown University; M.B.A.
1998, University of Oxford; B.S. 1996, United States Military Academy. I thankfully acknowledge and
appreciate thoughtful feedback from Priya Baskaran, Valena Beety, Joshua Fershee, Jessica Haught, Anne
Lofaso, Jena Martin, James Ridgway, and Melanie Stimeling. My work on this project was supported by
a generous Hodges Research Grant from West Virginia University College of Law. This Article is dedi-
cated to disabled American veterans, who have selflessly sacrificed their bodies and minds in defense of
the nation.
I THEODORE ROOSEVELT, THE GREAT ADVENTURE: PRESENT-DAY STUDIES IN AMERICAN
NATIONALISM 9 (1919).
2 JOHN M. KINDER, PAYING WITH THEIR BODIES: AMERICAN WAR AND THE PROBLEM OF THE
DISABLED VETERAN 8 (2015).
3 Billy Smith is a fictitious name, and the fact pattern presented here, while also fictitious, is based
on a combination of several fact patterns involving actual veteran clients whom we have represented in
the West Virginia Veterans Advocacy Clinic.
4 See, e.g., Nikki Wentling, 1VF Coverage for Wounded Vets Preserved in House VA Funding Bill,
STARS & STRIPES (June 16, 2017), https://www.stripes.com/ivf-coverage-for-wounded-vets-preserved-
in-house-va-funding-bill-I.473986#.WUVY xPytTZ (Because of the use of improvised explosive de-
vices against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, thousands of servicemcmbers have suffered traumatic
wounds to their genitals and spines, leaving them unable to procreate.).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/gmlr25&div=16&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Son of Sam, Service-Connected Entitlements, and Disabled Veteran Prisoners
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