By Giff Johnson, editor, Marshall Islands Journal / RNZ Pacific correspondent
The death earlier this month of a 26-year veteran of the US Army from the Micronesian island of Kosrae, who was an ardent advocate for healthcare benefits for island veterans, highlights the ongoing lack of promised US healthcare support for those who served in the US armed forces.
Kosraen Robson Henry, who died earlier this month at age 66 in Kosrae, spent nearly half his life in the US military and was part of the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A huge issue for Marshallese, Micronesian and Palauan members of the US Armed Forces is that once they get out of the military and return home, there are no Veterans Administration health services available to them as there are in the US and other international locations for American veterans.
To access medical care, island veterans must fly at their own expense to Honolulu, Guam or the US mainland where VA hospitals are located.
Despite the US Congress in the past several years adopting increasingly explicit legislation directing the US Veterans Administration to initiate systems for providing care to the hundreds of veterans of these three US-affiliated island nations, services have yet to materialise.
The Compact of Free Association (COFA) that became part of US law in 2024 “included provisions to have this healthcare available in our islands — as this Congress emphasised in November’s Continuing Resolution and December’s National Defense Authorisation Act,” Marshall Islands Ambassador to the US Charles Paul told a US House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Subcommittee on Health hearing in January.
However, he said the Department of Veterans Affairs had not acted to make the healthcare available.
‘Actively advocating’
“Robson has been actively advocating to extend veteran benefits to COFA citizens since at least 2008-09, when I first met him,” said filmmaker Nathan Fitch, who directed the award-winning film Island Soldier that tracked the lives of Kosraeans in the US Army — from Middle East war zones to their isolated and tranquil island home in the North Pacific.
Fitch said the Kosraean veteran had been active for the longest time advocating for services for veterans.
“Any progress on benefits for COFA veterans has to be part of Robson’s legacy,” Fitch said.
Still, despite ongoing advocacy by veterans like Henry and Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko, a 20-year veteran of the US Army, services mandated by US Congressional legislation remain in limbo.
Henry was also one of the first Micronesians to join the US Army when he entered on 13 October 1987 — just a year after implementation of the first COFA that allowed citizens of the three freely associated states to join the US military.
Henry stayed in the Army until October 2013, a total of 26 years, through which he was posted to locations around the world and saw tours of duty in various Middle East battle zones.
His story is not atypical, as many islanders who join the US military remain in the US armed forces for decades.
Higher enlistment
The US military “enlists our citizens at rates that are higher than the enlistment of US citizens in most US States,” noted Paul in his testimony at the hearing in Washington.
Paul told the House Veterans Committee members that healthcare for returning military veterans “was a major issue in the renegotiation of our free association, which culminated in the enactment of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024. The law was intended to resolve the issue”.
But he said the Veterans Administration “has acted contrary to what we negotiated, and Congress has said is the intent of the law. The government of the Marshall Islands, therefore, strongly supports the enactment of legislation to ensure that our veterans can receive the care if they return home.”
Meanwhile, a small section at the end of the over 3000 page National Defense Authorisation Act passed by the US Congress in December sets out a timetable for action by the Veterans Administration.
The US Defence spending law requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide the US Congress with updates within 30 days of the passage of the law and monthly thereafter on the implementation of provisions relating to services for military veterans in the freely associated states.
The defence law includes provisions requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop plans and costs for providing health services for veterans from the freely associated states. This includes the requirement of:
- Engagement with the three island governments;
- A projected timeline for island veterans to receive hospital care and medical services; and
- An estimate of the cost to implement these services.
‘Served honourably’
“For many years, Marshallese and other Freely Associated States veterans have served honourably in the United States Armed Forces, often at higher per capita rates than many States, yet without full and equal access to veterans’ benefits,” Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko was quoted by the Marshall Islands Journal in its January 9 edition.
“Addressing that inequity has always been about fairness, dignity, and recognition of service not politics.”
Kaneko said that while the language of the US legislation passed in December is “encouraging . . . the most important phase now is implementation.”
He said the Marshall Islands government is ready to “work constructively with US agencies to support that process. This moment represents progress, but it is also a reminder that our partnership works best when commitments made in law are carried through in practice”.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
