Friday's Folly - Here We Go Again

In late November 2007 I posted a story about a soldier that was wounded while serving in Iraq. After being released he received a letter from the Defense Department demanding repayment of a portion of his enlistment bonus. Later they said that the letter was a mistake.


Well, looks like they made the mistake again, and then compounded it.


Forced to leave the combat zone after his two brothers died in the Iraq war, Army Spc. Jason Hubbard found that he had more to deal with after he returned home: Not only had he buried his 2nd sibling, the military cut off his family's health care, stopped his G.I. educational subsidies and wanted him to repay his sign-up bonus.


Hubbard contacted his Congressman, David Nunes for assistance and after speaking with Army Secretary Pete Geren, Nunes got the repayment waived, and a military health policy restored but only for Hubbard's pregnant wife. The only problem, the policy mandated that she be treated at a nearby base, and doctors at the Lemoore Naval Air Station warned that the 45-mile trip could put her and the fetus in danger. So they offered alternative treatment at a hospital five hours away. Some option.


After hearing of a bill that would stop the military from such egregious actions, the Army had one of its many lackeys, Maj. Nathan Banks, issue a statement: "Foremost the Army itself sympathizes with him for the loss of his brothers," we will do everything within our means to rectify this issue. He is still one of ours."


This is how the Army treats one of its own and this is how the Bush administration supports the troops.