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Dear Captain Jones: In order to answer your question, we have to define
what you mean by "people." I know this sounds strange, but the law
allows certain categories of people to sue the Government for negligence
associated with military operations, while other classes of people are
not permitted to sue the Government.
Generally civilians, who are not employees of the Federal Government,
and are not in the military service, are permitted to sue the United
States Government under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Military
personnel, who are killed or injured while serving "incident to service"
are not permitted to sue the United States Government because of a
principle established by the United States Supreme Court over 50 years
ago known as the Feres Doctrine. The Feres Doctrine precludes service
personnel, injured "incident to service," from suing the Government,
because The Supreme Court believed that such lawsuits would interfere
with military order and discipline. The Supreme Court also believed
that Veteran's Benefits were sufficient to compensate service persons
and their families for their injury or death. This is the same concept
whereby workers' compensation insurance benefits are determined by
legislative enactments to be an adequate remedy when a worker is injured
or killed on the job.
Civilian employees of the United States Government cannot normally sue
the United States Government because they are provided with Federal
Employees Compensation Act Benefits (Federal Workers' Compensation)
which constitute their sole remedy for injury or death on the job while
working for Uncle Sam. These Federal Government employees, as well as,
military service personnel, may sue private parties if they can prove
the private party caused or contributed to their injuries or death.
I LIKE CARRIER LANDINGS! PHIL
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