Congressman John Murtha Passes Away at Age 77

Posted By Josh Rogin Monday, February 8, 2010 - 2:44 PM Share

This statement was just sent out by Matthew Mazonkey, spokeseman for Rep. John Murtha, D-PA.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman John P. Murtha (PA-12) passed away peacefully this afternoon at 1:18 p.m. at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA. At his bedside was his family.

Murtha, 77, was Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 1974, Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. A former Marine, he became the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress.

This past Saturday, February 6, 2010, Murtha became Pennsylvania's longest serving Member of Congress.

A complete biography is available on his website.

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1:02 PM ET

February 9, 2010

Murtha's untimely demise

I'm surprised that the press hasn't picked up on how badly Rep Murtha's surgical care was notched by Bethesda, since it has been the buzz in OR lounges for the past several weeks. The surgeon was told that he had injured the colon (large intestine) before completing the gallbladder removal, but blew it off as a common occurrence (it is not). Then, when Rep Murtha developed a fever and pain in his abdomen (from feces spilling out of the hole in his colon), he was told that it was a normal reaction. It wasn't. Even though he was wise enough to go to a private community hospital in Virginia when he became septic (horribly infected), it was too late to save his life.

What a travesty. Obama has ignored military health care during his entire time in office. In fact, the post of Asst Sec of Defense for Health Affairs, the head of the $47 Billion Military Health System, has been vacant since Obama took office. At a time when the military's suicide rate is sky high, we are in the middle of fighting two wars, and military health quality is plummeting while costs are soaring. I can't figure out if it is a result of Obama's disdain for everything military, or his complete ignorance about the complexity of health care delivery that has led him to ignore the problem. But another American hero was just killed at the hands of the US Navy because of it.