Sunday, March 24, 2013

Vietnam Veteran's widow fights for justice

Veteran's widow fighting battle over husband's death years after he left battlefields of Vietnam
By Michelle Caffrey
South Jersey Times
on March 23, 2013

When it came to dangerous tasks during the Vietnam War, Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Keating had one of the worst. He was a machine gunner and a point man by title, but his darkest duties came as a “tunnel rat,” when he was sent down into narrow, booby-trapped Viet Cong “Chu Chi” tunnels that were key for guerilla fighters’ military operations.

It’s no surprise then that decades later, back at home in Washington Township, the 56-year-old veteran still suffered from severe post traumatic stress disorder, enough to cause him to seek treatment at the Coatesville, Pa., Veterans Administration, a tertiary psychiatric facility, in 2008.

His widow maintains that his treatment there contributed to his untimely death, but U.S. District Court judges have ruled against her. It hasn’t stopped her from seeking justice for not just her beloved Michael, but all veterans.

“It’s not just Michael’s story,” Marie Keating said. “He’s not the only one.”
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