Disfigured by War - NYTimes.com Re "For Soldier Disfigured in War, a Way to Return to the World" ("The Hard Road Back" series, front page, Jan. 31): This heartbreaking story of a soldier almost burned to death in Afghanistan, his terrible ordeals, months of pain, 30 operations in 18 months and profound disfigurement is made worse by the report that the best reparative cosmetic work must be paid for not by government but by private charity. It seems that services by the Army hospitals stop short of cosmetic surgery because it is deemed beyond the scope of their mission, which is limited to restoring function. While it is wonderful that private groups like Operation Mend are stepping in to help, it is the responsibility of the government that sent these soldiers into harm's way to expend everything necessary to help them return to productive lives. Shame on America for treating these badly burned soldiers as charity cases. The writer, a retired optometrist, served as a medical service officer in Korea, 1956-58.