Ah, for those that say the administration "supports the military"- bah humbug

Parent Cafe
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<p>PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ?</p>

<p><a href=“http://kdka.com/local/military.signing.bonuses.2.571660.html[/url]”>http://kdka.com/local/military.signing.bonuses.2.571660.html&lt;/a&gt;
The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.
To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.
Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.
One of them is Jordan Fox, a young soldier from the South Hills.
He finds solace in the hundreds of boxes he loads onto a truck in Carnegie. In each box is a care package that will be sent to a man or woman serving in Iraq. It was in his name Operation Pittsburgh Pride was started.
Fox was seriously injured when a roadside bomb blew up his vehicle. He was knocked unconscious. His back was injured and lost all vision in his right eye.
A few months later Fox was sent home. His injuries prohibited him from fulfilling three months of his commitment. A few days ago, he received a letter from the military demanding nearly $3,000 of his signing bonus back.
“I tried to do my best and serve my country. I was unfortunately hurt in the process. Now they’re telling me they want their money back,” he explained.
It’s a slap for Fox’s mother, Susan Wardezak, who met with President Bush in Pittsburgh last May. He thanked her for starting Operation Pittsburgh Pride which has sent approximately 4,000 care packages.
He then sent her a letter expressing his concern over her son’s injuries, so she cannot understand the U.S. Government’s apparent lack of concern over injuries to countless U.S. Soldiers and demands that they return their bonuses.
While he’s unsure of his future, Fox says he’s unwavering in his commitment to his country.
“I’d do it all over again… because I’m proud of the discipline that I learned. I’m proud to have done something for my country,” he said.
But Fox feels like he’s already given enough. He’ll never be able to pursue his dream of being a police officer because of his wounds and he can’t believe he’s being asked to return part of his $10,000 signing bonus.
KDKA contacted Congressman Jason Altmire on his behalf. He says he has proposed a bill that would guarantee soldiers receive full benefit of bonuses.</p>

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<p>ah, guess the bad publicity made them go back on the bad policy…thank goodness for the press</p>

<p>i just can’t even imagine they tried to do that</p>

<p>but get your leg blown off, and can’t finish your duty, you won’t get your full signing bonus…tsk tsk for getting injured, I guess</p>

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<p>CIC know anything about this?</p>

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<p>Citygirl,</p>

<p>Could you be more insensitive to this guy. Imagine him reading this thread. I understand your anger, but he is the person injured not you, do not make him your rile the troops. If you do then please call or write and ask him ehat you can do for him.</p>

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<p>I’m speechless… Squabbling about VA budget, not paying for veterans’ treatment, and now this? How many “special bills” do those idiots need to start taking care of our military?</p>

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<p>Citygirl - thank you so much for publishing the link. It is disgraceful that the army would treat a wounded soldier this way. Thank goodness fo the media (sometimes) and the internet that enables us to lear of these travesties. If we did not hear about them nothing would change that is for sure.</p>

<p>Bullet - if this young soldier did not want his story out there he would not have talked to a newspaper about it. Good for him for having the courage to fight for his country - it is sad that he should have to fight to keep his ‘bonus’ when he returns with injuries that will prevent him following his dreams. I would imagine he would be absolutely delighted to learn that his story is being spread wide and far - that is the only way this situation will be rectified. Citygirl was not being insensitive at all - the more people that know this story the more politicians will be likely to make a change. By spreading this story we are supporting the troops. You seem to think we should all turn away from this young man and the many others like him and pretend this is not happening? Now that is insensitive!</p>

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<p>swim,
I am not disagreeing that it needs to be out there, what I was referring to was the tsk tsk comment.
BTW I have seen his interviews and I do hope that he keeps shouting from the rooftops, but if my H lost his leg I would not want people talking about it as a non-chalant comment.<br>
My point was if you want to talk about the problem that is one thing, but talk about it in a negative way and not do ANYTHING that is totally different.
How many people have contacted their congressman to change the law, yet, they are horrified. The soldier in question was asked what people could to tell help and that is what he wanted. DOD cannot change the rule unless a law is written to make it a regulation. I know people will come out say no, no that’s not true, the military can change it themselves. No they can’t, the fact is to get promoted for anyone in the military the senate has to approve the list and vote on it.</p>

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<p>In case you haven’t spent time in the military, you will find that situations like this are not personal and have nothing to do with supporting or not supporting the troops. In military terms, it’s a typical administrative SNAFU.</p>

<p>Computer program is written with a contract in mind. “Serve 48 months on active duty and get $30,000. If service is less than 48 months, the $30,000 shall be pro-rated”. What happened is the wounded soldier was discharged from active duty and the computer program automatically pro-rated the sign on bonus. It automatically processed for a repayment of balance. With all the administrative issues the military goes through on a day to day basis, it is understandable that something like this was not anticipated when the program was written in the financial network. And attention to it like the newspapers is definitely good because it brings it to the forefront and helps get it fixed.</p>

<p>I just think to automatically assume that there is some “GROUP” of people that is intentionally trying to screw over the military and take back money from a bonus, and has no feelings towards the military is a very narrow minded and ignorant position. For the original poster to believe that “The Military”; as in the actual people are demanding this payback, obviously shows that you are ignorant when it comes to large corporations, the government, computer glitches, and so on. There have been these SNAFU’s forever in the military. They get worked out most times. But it’s not a personal thing against the troops by other personnel.</p>

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<p>Charlie, you will quickly know how many have an affiliation to the military. If they know the actual words for your acronym than they were/are.</p>

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<p>bulletandpima–doesn’t <em>everyone</em> know what that acronym is? As well as FUBAR? ;)</p>

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<p>haha owned…</p>

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<p>The decision of the Administration to short change VA funding, increase fees for VA services or drag their feet in retrofitting personnel carriers with IED resistant armor were not computer SNAFU’s. Just examples of this Admisnstration’s attitude toward our people in uniform.</p>

<p>Ah, but those lapel pins make up for it all. They are true patriots. And we will ignore the false pretenses for getting our military involved in Iraq.</p>

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<p>here is another story about the pentagon tring to hide the truth</p>

<p>By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY.
The data, provided by the Army, Navy and Department of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as many troops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by the Pentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in the Pentagon’s official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327.</p>

<p>HIDDEN WOUNDS: Marine didn’t recognize signs of brain injury
The number of brain-injury cases were tabulated from records kept by the VA and four military bases that house units that have served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>

<p>One base released its count of brain injuries at a medical conference. The others provided their records at the request of USA TODAY, in some cases only after a Freedom of Information Act filing was submitted.</p>

<p>FIND MORE STORIES IN: Iraq | Afghanistan | Army | Pentagon | Marine Corps | Department of Veterans Affairs | Lt. Col | Wounds</p>

<p>USA TODAY ARCHIVES: Brain injuries from war worse than thought
The data came from:</p>

<p>• Landstuhl Army Regional Medical Center in Germany, where troops evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan for injury, illness or wounds are brought before going home. Since May 2006, more than 2,300 soldiers screened positive for brain injury, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw says.</p>

<p>• Fort Hood, Texas, home of the 4th Infantry Division, which returned from a second Iraq combat tour late last year. At least 2,700 soldiers suffered a combat brain injury, Lt. Col. Steve Stover says.</p>

<p>• Fort Carson, Colo., where more than 2,100 soldiers screened were found to have suffered a brain injury, according to remarks by Army Col. Heidi Terrio before a brain injury association seminar.</p>

<p>• Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where 1,737 Marines were found to have suffered a brain injury, according to Navy Cmdr. Martin Holland, a neurosurgeon with the Naval Medical Center San Diego.</p>

<p>• VA hospitals, where Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been screened for combat brain injuries since April. The VA found about 20% of 61,285 surveyed — or 11,804 veterans — with signs of brain injury, spokeswoman Alison Aikele says. VA doctors say more evaluation is necessary before a true diagnosis of brain injury can be confirmed in all these cases, Aikele says.
Soldiers and Marines whose wounds were discovered after they left Iraq are not added to the official casualty list, says Army Col. Robert Labutta, a neurologist and brain injury consultant for the Pentagon.
“We are working to do a better job of reflecting accurate data in the official casualty table,” Labutta says.
Most of the new cases involve mild or moderate brain injuries, commonly from exposure to blasts.
More than 150,000 troops may have suffered head injuries in combat, says Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force.
“I am wary that the number of brain-injured troops far exceeds the total number reported injured,” he says.
About 1.5 million troops have served in Iraq, where traumatic brain injury can occur despite heavy body armor worn by troops.</p>

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<p>I find it appalling that our government will pay obscene amounts of money to companies like Blackwater to provide services which should be handled by our military and then turn around and shortchange our soldiers as described above.</p>

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<p>That was clearly sarcasm directed at the military, NOT at the wounded soldier.</p>

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<p>As a former computer programmer for 18 years, I would disagree. It is NOT understandable that this was not anticipated. Any halfway decent programmer would have asked for the conditions. A programmer HAS to allow for all possible contingencies. When the soldier’s name is selected based on whatever criteria (got released, etc) the program would be designed to check to see if he’s still alive or not, the conditions for release, etc. That’s just basic stuff. No good programmer would have overlooked something like that.</p>

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<p>Yes and the soldier was a part of the military. If you saw the interview he stated he had no regrets to joining the military and that he would re-do it again.<br>
Let’s believe your point (aimed at military), so who exactly in the military? The leaders, where is the cut-off point?</p>