The Air Force widow of an American killed last week by a terror bomb in Israel said the military dumped her after she got bone cancer, then refused to pay for any more medical treatments.
But after a torrent of complaints from outraged family and friends, the Air Force said it was reviewing the case of Airman Courtney Linde, 21.
She’ll stay on active duty pending a resolution of the case, officials told The Post yesterday.
Linde’s slain husband, John Linde Jr., left the Marine Corps last year, telling friends he was taking a high-risk, high-paying security job to pay for care of his wife after she discovered she had osteosarcoma.
She complained of leg pains while in boot camp, then underwent a year of intense chemotherapy and surgery, including the replacement of a femur bone with a titanium rod.
The Air Force covered the cost of her surgery, but told her she was being discharged because of her illness, which they claimed was a pre-existing condition not covered by the government.
Her mother, Lyn Brown, told The Post the Air Force had “dropped the ball.”
“It’s not my daughter’s fault that she got cancer,” she said. “The Air Force should take care of its own people, those who dedicate their lives to the service. But they just dumped her. It’s not right.”
The Air Force would not discuss the details of the case, but admitted that Linde’s heartbreaking appeals had gone “all the way to the top.”
“The secretary of the Air Force is aware of the case and is personally taking an interest,” said Air Force spokesman Maj. John Thomas. “He is looking at options that he may exercise within the law to give her the best solution possible.”
Linde, who had been scheduled to be discharged next week, will now remain on active duty.
And her appeal – which was previously been turned down by three separate panels – was expected to be revived at the highest levels.
Brown said earlier that the Air Force had declared her daughter “unfit for duty.” “She can no longer run or jump,” she said.
Linde yesterday was making funeral arrangements for her slain husband in his hometown of Washington, Mo.
The 10-year Marine veteran was killed by a roadside bomb last week, along with two other American security guards working for the U.S. Embassy.
It was the first deadly attack on an official U.S. target in Israel’s occupied territories in more than three years of fighting. The embassy’s three-car convoy had just cleared a checkpoint and entered Gaza when a bomb tore apart the second armored vehicle, killing Linde and the two others and wounding a fourth man.
An FBI team of investigators and forensic experts from Washington traveled to the site to assist the Israelis with the investigation.
Linde had told family and friends he had taken the security job guarding embassy officials partly because he feared the Air Force would not pay for his wife’s future medical bills. The two were married in July 2002.
Brown said her widowed daughter would need costly medical checkups every three months to test for a possible recurrence of cancer.
“She’ll have to do this for the rest of her life,” said Brown. “The Air Force should step up to the plate and take responsibility. We just want what’s fair.”