Pensacola, Fla. ? George “Bud” Day’s fight to make the federal government keep its promise of free health care to aging military retirees has taken longer than the 5 1/2 years he spent as a prisoner of war, and it’s still not over.

Day and other military retirees, mostly veterans of World War II and the Korean War, say recruiters and other military officials promised lifetime medical care in return for at least 20 years of service. The Justice Department contends that doesn’t matter because Congress never authorized the promise.

“This is basically about the honor of the United States,” said Day, who practices law in Fort Walton Beach. “Either they keep their word, or they double-cross us.”

Day, a 77-year-old retired Air Force colonel, fought in three wars and was awarded the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. In 1996, he sued the federal government after being turned away by the hospital at Eglin Air Force Base, where he once was welcomed.

“They told me, ‘You can’t get treated when you’re over 65,”‘ Day said.

The case is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to decide whether to accept Day’s appeal. Retirees supporting Day plan a rally Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Before going to the Supreme Court, Day had tried to persuade President Bush to intervene, but to no avail.

The Defense Department began putting retirees on Medicare at 65 and deducting fees for the national health care program from their retirement checks in 1994. Medicare does not provide full coverage, which resulted in additional out-of-pocket expenses.

Congress earlier addressed the issue in 1956 by passing a law that authorized free care at military facilities on a space-available basis. It worked well until the 1990s, when that space shrank rapidly in the rush to close and downsize bases after the Cold War.

Day contends the space-available limit should not apply to retirees who enlisted before the law went on the books.

If Day wins in the Supreme Court, he wants to expand the case to a class action on behalf of all retirees who enlisted before the 1956 law. They numbered about 1.5 million when the case began, but tens of thousands have died since then. Thousands more will be gone before it is over.

Retired Air Force Col. George Day, standing in front of the federal courthouse in Pensacola, Fla., is suing the U.S. government for the free health care it promised military retirees like himself. A rally for the case, which Day is requesting the Supreme Court to hear, will be Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Considered a hero

Heroism is nothing new for Day. He earned more than 70 medals and served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, where Sen. John McCain of Arizona was a POW camp cellmate. They remain close, and Day helped McCain in his 2000 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Day received the Medal of Honor for escaping in North Vietnam, although he was later shot as he was recaptured. His hometown of Sioux City, Iowa, recognized him last year by renaming its airport Bud Day Field.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, in Pensacola, dismissed Day’s suit in 1998. In 2001, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, unanimously reversed Vinson and ordered him to determine damages.

Little help from Bush

Before that could happen, the Justice Department sought a rehearing with all 13 judges on the appellate court. Day appealed to President Bush.

“That was the time for him to intervene and tell the attorney general this case is not going any further,” Day said. “I put it on him in the White House about a year ago at a Medal of Honor ceremony.”

He said Bush told him to talk to Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi. Day said he tried to explain that Principi’s department had nothing to do with the matter because retiree benefits come from the military, not the VA.

“He still didn’t get it,” Day said.

In November, the full appellate court ruled 9-4 for the government.

Before then, however, Congress and Bush had helped the over-65 retirees in another way. They enacted the TRICARE For Life military insurance program in 2001. It picks up most expenses not covered by Medicare.

The program is “95 percent of the loaf,” Day said. But, “that’s not what was promised us.”