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With Coble's help, Dunlap gets 'Permanent Fee Basis' status
By Mary Anderson
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune

WESTMOORE - There was good news for Josh Dunlap on Friday. The Moore County soldier, who survived the Chinook helicopter crash in Iraq on Nov. 2, 2203, was granted Permanent Fee Basis status by the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salisbury late Friday afternoon.

"This is great. This is wonderful news. It lifts a great burden for us and will take so much stress off the family," said Wilma Dunlap, the wounded soldier's mother, when she received the news from Rep. Howard Coble's Washington office. "We appreciate this so much."

Permanent Fee Basis, explained Ed McDonald, chief of staff for Coble's Washington Office, means that Josh can go to the physician, to the emergency room and to rehabilitation services at the facilities of his choice without prior permission every time from the Veterans Administration.

McDonald said the classification was granted for three years and will be reviewed at that time. Josh Dunlap's physicians in the FirstHealth network have agreed to accept the reimbursements from the Veterans Administration and will submit their bills for payment.

McDonald said the Dunlaps would get a formal letter from the VA, but "from this minute, they can just go. It's automatically approved for three years."

Wilma Dunlap said the three-hour drives to the VA hospital have been very trying for Josh and, when he had to go to an emergency room, she just went to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.

"There is no time to waste getting permission when you have an emergency," Wilma said. "All of Josh's doctors, military and civilian, have been wonderful. That he survived at all is a miracle and they have willingly and gladly done everything they could."

Neurologists have told them that a brain trauma of the magnitude Josh suffered will take at least two years to heal.

When rockets shot down the Chinook helicopter that was taking a group of soldiers to R&R, 16 of them were killed, including the pilot.

The incident was national news, especially the survival of Dunlap, who was believed to be dead and was declared dead twice and not expected to live on the flight from Germany to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dunlap had numerous broken bones and multiple injuries.

To spare Josh the pain of the three-hour trip to a veterans hospital, Wilma had worked out medical care with Dunlap's physician in Robbins and with FirstHealth of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, which has an extensive rehabilitation facility. Now, they can go without permission for every visit.

Wilma and her husband, Steve, want to clarify their efforts to get through the red tape and get help for their son.

"A newspaper story made it sound like we didn't know what we were supposed to do, but our son comes first. When he needed attention, we may not have returned all the phone calls or finished all the paperwork when we had to stop and take care of Josh," Wilma said. "We are not angry with our government, our congress, our senator or anyone in any way. I knew those contacts were important, but people just don't know what we are going through here."

Steve Dunlap said the publicity just got out of hand.

"When Josh came home, someone from Mr. Coble's office called and asked if there was anything they could do to help. At that time, everything was OK," said Steve. "We had also been in contact with Sen. Edwards' office."

At that time, the Dunlaps did not realize that when the congressional districts were redrawn they now live in Coble's district. The Dunlaps live in Westmoore, that beautiful but confusing area of Moore County where they have a Seagrove address and a High Falls telephone number.

Steve wants to emphasize that everybody they asked for help has been more than willing to help and that they appreciate every effort.

"We have to look at the big picture," he said. "It's been a long time since we have been at war. There are bound to be some mistakes and some things are going to be overlooked."

Wilma is just as forgiving, but she still smarts at the curt and rude responses she got from several people in the "military medical hold" offices, but hopes their experiences can help other families who find themselves in similar situations.

"This is all so complicated and it started because we did not have a form 2656 when we left Walter Reed. Here we were, parents of a soldier in intensive care for two months, being sent to another hospital (McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Richmond, Va. which specializes in brain trauma) and we didn't get the right piece of paper. How would I know that?" That still perplexes Wilma.

"But, I don't want anything ugly out of this. Josh's doctors and nurses have been great and his doctors couldn't understand the way he was being treated the way he was," Wilma said.

Josh's pay stopped last April and it was as though he didn't exist to the military.

"Every time I would finally get someone on the phone, I'd think this would be the one to straighten this out," Wilma said. On Friday, things seemed to be moving forward - and on the right track.

Josh has received notice that a direct deposit has been made into his bank account. Wilma thinks it is his military back pay or his first retirement check, but is not sure yet.

Josh was retired from the military on medical disability.

The holdup for Rep. Coble's office to make inquiries was a signed statement from the Dunlaps to give Coble permission to proceed.

Wilma said she had made numerous attempts to return the calls to Coble's office and was working on a form for Sen. Edwards' office, but she had limited time to make calls and write letters amid numerous duties and interruptions.

If the line was busy or she couldn't get through, she might not have another minute until hours later.

On Thursday night, Kathy Benfield, Coble's specialist for veterans' affairs, made contact. Rebecca Redding from the Asheboro office drove to Westmoore with the paperwork that would give the congressman authority to act under the federal privacy laws.

"We just didn't want any more delays because we were ready and waiting to help, so I drove out and had a great visit with the Dunlap family. They're wonderfully pleasant people and they live in a beautiful area. I enjoyed the drive and the visit and was glad we could get things started," Redding said.

On Friday afternoon, a formal inquiry was filed from Coble's office with the Pentagon. Two hours later the Permanent Fee Basis status was granted.

Wilma Dunlap has an unshakable faith. She believes that her son survived at all is a miracle; that everything they are going through is for a reason; and, that they will have the strength to endure.

There have been signs that kept her strong.

When Josh was deployed to Iraq, she sent him a "prayer hand" every day - an outline of her hand with prayers on the fingertips.

"Put your hand on mine and feel the power of our prayers," she told him.

The only items she has received from the Army from the helicopter crash have been Josh's hat, which his friends had tried their best to clean, and two of the prayer hands "in mint condition."

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