I wish that non-military people would check their facts before they comment on military practices.

This article is a perfect example.

Kos writes:
And while they're at it, how about they stop charging recuperating vets at Walter Reed for their meals?

The answer to that is the vets aren't really being charged.

The same thing was done to me when I had sinus surgery in 1991.

Let me explain.

A soldier that is not eating regular meals in the chow hall for one reason or another (i.e. he is married and lives in housing or off-post, not in the barracks) receives an allowance for food to make up for the fact that he is not receiving, for free, the three meals a day in the mess hall. This is known in the Army as Separate Rations.

The allowance is assessed daily. The daily amount is the equivalent of what it would cost to pay to eat three meals on that day in the chow hall, if you paid.

When you go to a military hospital, the chow hall in the hospital feeds you (duh!). Therefore, you are not entitled to the Separate Rations for that meal, or else, you would be, fraudulently, receiving a double entitlement, and abusing the taxpayer's money.

The people in the hospital are not being "charged" for their meals. They are being given meals, instead of being paid to get their own meals.