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#1 Wounded vets asked to return signing bonuses.
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:16 pm
by SirNitram
Link
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.
#2
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:22 pm
by frigidmagi
MUTINY! MUTINY!
This is beyond the damn pale! One does not demand that our wounded cough up cash because they caught a bullet.
#3
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:50 pm
by B4UTRUST
*snorts* What do you expect, Frigid? They've gotta pay the troops in the sand somehow. Might as well take it back from those who can't any longer.
Any we add yet another reason to the growing list of why I'm getting the fuck out of the service. It's shit like this that disgusts me to no end. We fight and die so others don't have too, we earn so little that we qualify for WIC and Welfare and then when we've given all we can, we have to give some more, that often we don't have.
Fucking pathetic. Any it's reasons like this that this debacle of an administration from top to bottom, anyone who has served during this tyranny, will be known as the worst in US history and the single biggest cause to our downfall as a country.
#4
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:00 pm
by Batman
Any time I think this administration cannot POSSIBLY hit a new low, they do.
Will somebody PLEASE tell me that legal repercussions can and will be brought unto the people currently occupying the seats of power in the US of A?
Yes I know it's not gonna happen but a man can dream...
#5
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:42 pm
by LadyTevar
**rantrantrageragebitch**
In Roman times, any Emperor that forgot to pay the Legions was overthrown and a better man put in his place (or at least someone the Legions thought would keep the pay coming).
It's time the US 'Legions' made their will known.
#6
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:50 pm
by B4UTRUST
That's called treason and mutiny which is punishable under the UCMJ by death.
Gotta love it. Because the 'Legions' who would do this are all enlisted, which can and will be court martialed, locked away and legally put to death if it was felt neccessary. Unlike, say, a general officer who could smoke crack in front of a news camera while recieving a blowjob from a underage boy prostitute and a E-5 and get little more then a slap on a wrist and a "Would you possibly please maybe consider an early retirement so we can show the military we kinda sorta may mean some sort of business?"