Nickel-and-Diming Our Wounded: Iraq Vet Forced to Pay Back Army Bonus

Former Private First Class Jordan Fox was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He suffered a serious back injury, and he lost sight in his right eye.

A few short weeks after his honorable discharge from the Army, a letter came by mail from the Defense Department. Was it a letter informing him of local veterans' clinics where he could receive vocational rehabilitation or counseling? No. A signed "thank you for your service" from the Secretary of Defense, or perhaps the President? No.

It was a bill for nearly $3,000.

Since Fox was too severely injured to complete his military service, the Defense Department was demanding that he return part of his enlistment bonus. In the Army bureaucracy, his wounds didn't matter. The Army machine wanted its money back.

Sadly, he is not alone. Some troops seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are being denied their full enlistment bonus by the Pentagon, while others are being asked to return money they have already received.

In July, the Dole-Shalala Commission exposed the Department of Defense policy that prohibits bonuses from being paid in full to service members unless their entire military commitment is fulfilled. Wounded troops, unable to continue to serve, are forced into an early military discharge, and thus, can be denied their full bonus.

However, new legislation gaining momentum in Congress promises to put an end to this loophole. The "Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act" (H.R. 3793) would prevent wounded warriors from being unfairly penalized by requiring the Department of Defense to provide veterans discharged with combat-related injuries with full payment of any and all remaining enlistment bonuses within 30 days of discharge.

The men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan have served our nation proudly. Denying them their full enlistment bonus is a terrible way to welcome them home. The Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act would ensure that all of our nation's wounded warriors receive the bonuses they have unquestionably earned.

Help us send the message to Congress that we cannot continue to nickel and dime these men and women who have given so much to serve our country.

UPDATE: Watch Jordan and his mother on CNN Headline News, along with IAVA's Todd Bowers, here.

And I was on Headline News with Glenn Beck last night to discuss the issue. You can see the video of that here.

Comments

[rabun666]

I wonder if the defense contractor for munitions and bombs have to pay back the Pentagon for each dud? That's the equivalent of wounded and disabled troops having to pay back their enlistment bonuses because they got discharged before their enlistment was up.

[srmorris]

This is an absolute outrage. We must explode the myth once and for all that the current administration "supports" the troops. This is not support. It is disdain.

[leeskyblue]

Another "in your face" from an administration which hasn't provided armored vehicles, flak jackets and other vital equipment while our soldiers die, yet argues to continue the war to "support our boys." Is there any manifestation that this administration cares about public safety, patriotism, "the homeland" or even God? This latest indecency to our fighting men and women is merely business as usual. Hopefully we may never see another administration this consistent.

[timetorevolt]

Now this is the kind of issue MSM should be covering. But no..we have listen hours of non-stop missing white women stories and hours of Clinton's office hostage situation. This is the kind of issues that MSM should be questioning each presidential candidate about. Keith Olbermann is the only one who covered this last week. He had Fox on his show.

[frappe]

I cannot believe that the Defense Dept. would assent or resort to this! This sounds so obnoxious, so utterly reprehensible that I didn't think it could possibly be true. And yes, once again, we are faced with the disgusting and soulless truth that is inspired by the darkest presidential administration in our nation's history.

If anything, our veterans whose tours of duty have been cut short by injury should be honored and rewarded for their bravery in the face of life-threatening danger.

[AngelsofMercy]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq " many times more bitterly than intellectually " we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals around the Country.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive in the United States for medical treatment and recovery " often staying over a year in a hospital. They arrive with few, if any, of their personal possessions. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman"s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

Jay Edwards
Angels of Mercy Program
1355 Balls Hill Road
McLean, Virginia 22101
703.938.8930
[e-mail]

[jwod]

As an Army veteran, Germany (1960-63), my only comment is "What's new?" "Catch 22" seemed almost reality when I read it while deployed. The absence of a draft makes these chronic egregious behaviors surprising and new to the woefully naive we're getting as volunteers. Draftees would instead have been out there spreading the word and thereby forestalling the ability of recruiters to con the unaware.

[deminmo]

This also happened to a soldier in the St. Louis
area. I saw the article in the paper and sent
the information to both my Senator and Rep.
who both serve on Veterans Affairs committees.

Without doubt this is the lowest thing our
Government has done, besides keeping brave
men and women fighting a losing conflict.
And along with this, the wounded are waiting
months to see a doctor at home. There has to
be a way to speed up the mounds of paperwork.

[Dansden]

If you're Republican,
dead soldiers are NOT as important as
STOCK MARKET RISE FOR THE DAY!

If you're Republican,
wounded soldiers are NOT as important as
BIG OIL PROFITS!

If you're Republican,
dead American children are NOT as important as
$196 Billion for Blackwater Thugs and a
1/2 $Billion dollar Iraq Embassy!

If you're Republican,
American citizen's rights are NOT as important as LOBBYISTS, PEDAPHILES, CROOKED JUDGES/US ATTORNEY GENERAL/SENATORS/REPRESENTATIVES who will lie and cheat the American Treasury for Iraq's OIL!

[Dansden]

FROM FIRST TO LAST IN IRAQ,

NOW WE HAVE PROOF,

IT IS AND WAS ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY!!!!!!!

[DKLA]

IMPEACHMENT IS ALL WE HAVE LEFT!
CALL PELOSI TODAY & EVERYDAY AT [phone],
call John Conyers too(202)225-5126, where re the investigation's? supeona's? indictments?
HOW MANY MORE MUST DIE?!

[DKLA]

CALL NANCY PELOSI & DEMAND IMPEACHMENT HEARING'S FOR BOTH THE CROOK'S NOW!
REACH HER AT [phone], LEAVE A VOICE MESSAGE TOO!!then call your representative!

[MAGLATINA]

THIS IS INTOLERABLE. WHAT ARE "WE THE PEOPLE" DOING TO GET THIS MONSTROUS ADDMINISTRATION REACT AND DO THE RIGHT AND HONORABLE ACTIONS TOWARDS OUR VETERANS? IS ANYONE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT? WHAT ABOUT A BARRAGE OF LETTERS AND CALLS TO CONGRESS MEMBERS AND THE SECRETARY OF DOD??? WHAT IS MOVEON DOING? SHAME ON US TO BE SO PASSIVE!
[e-mail]

[IRJ]

Does this really surprise anybody? It should not. Bush and his henchmen don't give a damn about the troops and they never have. Their breastbeating and "concern" have only one goal: Using the troops as pawns to continue their absurd, incompetent, and obviously failed policies. Bush and Co. care about Halliburton and KBR and their rich buddies - nothing else. The troops are useless to them once they cease to be viable as cannon fodder, and their contempt and callousness are evident in every action they take, or in most cases fail to take, and in every budget, and in every failure to even begin to address the legitmate needs of the returning veterans. More active troops and veterans need to speak up and expose these people for the lying hypocrites they really are.

[JaChoCoTeaJa]

Isn't this something that Ron Paul would want to prevent? I mean, after all, this is exactly what Ron Paul has been opposing.