RELIEF BILLS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS, Wednesday, December 19, 1928. The subcommittee this day met, Hon. J. Mayhew Wainwright (chairman) presiding. Mr. WAINWRIGHT. This hearing has been called for the consideration of H. R. 10824, a bill introduced by Mr. Hudson, to authorize the President to summon Edward H. Cotcher, formerly captain of the Sixty-fifth Infantry of the Army of the United States, before a retiring board, to inquire whether at the time of his honorable discharge, November 24, 1922, he was incapacitated for active service and whether such incapacity was the result of an incident of service, and whether such discharge should have been made, and upon the result of such inquiry the President is authorized to nominate and appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the said Edward H. Cotcher a captain of the Army of the United States and place him immediately thereafter upon the retired list of the Army, with a proviso that the said Edward H. Cotcher shall not be entitled to any back pay or allowances. This bill was referred, in the usual manner in the case of such bills to the Secretary of War, and the following communication, dated March 21, 1928, signed by the Secretary of War, addressed to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, has been received: WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 21, 1928. Hon. JOHN M. MORIN, Chairman Committee on Military Affairs, DEAR MR. MORIN: In compliance with your request of March 7, 1928, I am pleased to submit the following report on H. R. 10824. The proposed legislation would authorize the President to summon Edward H. Cotcher, formerly captain of the Sixty-fifth Infantry of the Army of the United States, before a retiring board to inquire whether at the time of his honorable discharge, November 24, 1922, he was incapacitated for active service and whether such incapacity was the result of an incident of service, and whether such discharge should have been made, and upon the result of such inquiry the President is authorized to nominate and appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the said Edward H. Cotcher, a captain in the Army of the United States and place him immediately thereafter upon the retired list of the Army with retired pay as provided for officers of the Regular Army. The general laws applicable to the functions of retiring boards and to retirement for disability are found in sections 1246 to 1252, Revised Statutes. The military service of the beneficiary of this bill is briefly as follows: Corporal, Thirty-third Infantry, Michigan National Guard, in Federal service July 8 to December 5, 1916; second lieutenant of Infantry, Regular Army, November 30, 1916; first lieutenant, November 30, 1916; accepted December 6, 1916; temporary captain, August 5, 1917; permanent captain, October 12, 1917; honorably discharged November 24, 1922. The records show that Captain Cotcher was honorably discharged with one year's pay November 24, 1922, under the acts of Congress approved June 30, 1922, and September 14, 1922, providing for a reduction in the commissioned personnel of the Army. On February 15, 1923, the beneficiary of H. R. 10824 addressed a letter to The Adjutant General of the Army in which he claimed that he was 50 per cent disabled at the date of his discharge, and requested that remedial action be taken by the War Department with a view to restoring to him the rights of which be had been inadvertently deprived. The reports of physical examination of this former officer during his active service are as follows: October 17, 1917: No physical defects noted; not considered incapacitated for active service. December 12, 1918: Incapacitated for active service because of weakened condition of heart and thickened pleura. Further examination in two or three months recommended. February 20, 1919: X-ray examination made; no serious defects noted; not considered incapacitated for active service. February 7, 1920: Suffering from bronchitis, chronic, bilateral; considered incapacitated for field service. May 6, 1920: This examination was made after a period of observation in a general hospital. The chief of the medical service of the general hospital reported that there was no evidence of any active bronchitis or other physical disability February 8, 1922: No serious defects were noted, and the officer was not considered incapacitated in any way for the performance of active field service. On November 13, 1922, 11 days prior to the date of his discharge, Captais Cotcher applied for retirement by reason of physical disability. The attending surgeon certified that he was suffering from tachycardis. The application was returned with the view of having a complete physical examination made. This examination showed that he was considered incapacitated for field service,the diagnosis being chronic myocarditis. Before final action could be taken on Captain Cotcher's application for retirement he was discharged from the service. The medical officer who examined him on the date of his discharge certified that Captain Cotcher was physically and mentally sound, with the following exception Chronic cardiac disease, manifested by tachycardia and arythmia, and that in view of his occupation he was at that time 25 per cent disabled. The War Department is uniformly opposed to legislation of the type carried in this bill, which would single out an individual of a class for preferential treatment not accorded to others of that class. The discharge of Captain Cotcher completely separated him from the service, and it is believed that any relief to which he may now be entitled, due to dissbility, should be obtained through the agency of the United States Veterans' Bureau or the Bureau of Pensions. Under the circumstances I can not consistently approve of the passage of H. R. 10824, and accordingly recommend that it be not favorably considered by your committee and be not enacted into law. Any further information which your committee may desire in connection with this subject will be gladly furnished. Sincerely yours, DWIGHT F. DAVIS, He was one of the officers who was separated from the service as the result of the deliberations of the so-called Dickman Board, which undertook to reduce the number of Army officers by 1,000. With the information as to your case contained in the letter of the War Department to the chairman of this committee, Captain, we will be very glad to receive any statement you have to make on the subject. |