Veterans Affairs officials — facing a lifetime medical bill that could balloon to $17 million — cut back yesterday on care for wounded Marine sniper Sgt. Eddie Ryan.

"They will never admit it, but we know it's about the money," said Chris Ryan, a former Marine who has become an outspoken supporter of his son and a critic of bureaucrats. The 23-year-old Marine was hit in the head by two bullets fired from an American tank in 2005.

Last week, five Albany VA officials surprised Angela Ryan, Eddie's mother, with a phone call. They told her they wanted to change Eddie's care by cutting back on the number of therapy visits he gets each week and perhaps sending him someplace besides his home.

"My son was a strapping 200-pound Marine. Now I have to change his diapers. You want me to agree to cutting back his therapies? I don't think so," Angie Ryan said she told them. The conversation left her in tears.
Eddie gets a kiss from Mom, Angela, in December
THR/Dominick Fiorille

Yesterday, the physical therapist at the Ryans' home outside Ellenville said she could only come twice a week instead of five times a week, Angela Ryan said. Eddie gets speech and occupational therapy, among other rehabilitation services.

He has made progress. The former sniper pushes his wheelchair around and plays catch. Without the therapies, he could lose those gains, his dad said. I

n one context, Eddie's care is expensive. The bill over the course of Eddie's life could hit $17 million, according to Harvard professor Linda Bilmes. She and Joe Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate economist and former Bill Clinton adviser, did a study that pegged the overall cost of the war at $1 trillion to $2 trillion.

Eddie Ryan's case figured into two recent broadcasts on PBS, one in May on the cost of the Iraq War and the other in April about how veterans with traumatic brain injuries strain the system.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, has been helping the Ryans. His spokesman, Jeff Lieberson, was critical of the VA cutbacks. Officials from the VA could not be reached for comment.

"Hundreds of millions a day is being spent in Iraq and they can't afford three more days a week of therapy for Eddie Ryan? That's a slap in face to Eddie and his family. ... Our troops deserve better," Lieberson said.

Chris Ryan said the family will continue to fight back. "All we want," he said, "is what is the best thing for Eddie."