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.

Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff

Comments

[drblack]

President Bush, Republicans, many Democrats all consider this supporting the troops.
My family has many vets in it and they were all, everyone of them ,treated like yesterdays trash when they could no longer fight.
I believe that the honorable people who fight for our country are being abused and used for reasons other than the security of the USA.
The biggest threat to American Freedom is the US government itself, especially the Bush administration.

[ChiGuy]

I first read about this last week and sat agape after reading it, completely stunned at the gall of the Pentagon.

Let's face it, military pay is nothing to write home about in the first place. But couple that with the discharge, and even the healthiest of people will still need time to re-acclimate to civilian life and find gainful employment.

Stack a life altering disability/injury on top of all of that, and these people, who dedicated years of their lives to defend our country, have been screwed beyond all comprehension by bean counters.

As long as you're wearing the uniform, they'll tell you that you're brothers in arms. But the second you walk out the door, they don't give a rat's ass what happens to you. This situation, and the deplorable conditions under which many of our vets from all eras are treated at VA hospitals, are proof of that.

Absolutely disgusting.

[MinuteMan]

Let's face it, in this country veterans are sacred cows. Say something that can be construed as critical of veterans and people jump down your throat. However, you can treat the troops and veterans like crap just as long as you pay lip-service to them. Conjure up an image of revered but starving cows roaming the countryside and you get the picture.

We ought to spend a bit less time trying to deify veterans and start treating them like fellwow countrymen to whom we owe a concrete debt. The only ones benefiting from the deification are the politicos who want to use the troops and veterans as stage props---and cannon fodder.

[Paw1]

This could be the most disgusting thing I've ever read. Even if the issue has been recently rectified, it still took a public outcry and exposure to force the DOD to do the right thing. Same with returning veteran's medical needs.

What sort of place have we created, where volunteers sacrifice their bodies in the hope of creating a better world and get shit on for their efforts? Is their no conscience left in government anymore?

The silver lining here is that perhaps potential recruits will be able to clearly see through the government propaganda and perceive the truth: in the eyes of the military, they are cannon fodder and nothing more. God bless the wounded as they struggle to return to a normal life, or as close to it as they can.

[OckhamsElectricRazor]

If only the soldiers could take back their service in return! Dispicable attitude by the government.

[YellowDogInRedCounty]

Paul, I thought I had heard that the DOD had rescinded the demand and allowed him to keep the entire bonus. I have the utmost in confidence in what you report, so maybe you know something the rest of us don't.

Please check into it further and let your readers know.

[Spookcatcher]

To the U.S. Congress: Can I please get all my Tax Dollars back, please? The War on Terror hasn't exactly worked out and I was sold a hollow bill of goods, particularly in the Afhganistan for drugs and illegal occupational war in Iraq. If I live to be 1,000,000 years old and pay the highest tax rate, i can't repay our Treasury for what it has already cost the U.S. So, since you, Congress, who appropriate all this money fraudulently, just please return me mine. Walmart and the other retailers have very responsible return policies when I am sold something I don't want, doesn't fir, or is dysfunctional from them, and if there was Fraud on top of that well I could easily go to court against them!

[Balzac]

If these soldiers who are being robbed of their enlistment bonuses are wondering who supports them, it's honest to tell them their government emphatically does not support them.

Bush, his Republican and Democratic supporters in Congress are all betraying our military.

The vast majority of our government appears corrupt beyond any hope for redemption.

I understand why the idea of hell was conceived.

Hell was conceived for people just like Bush, Cheney, congress, media moguls, CEOs and pundits.

[MACS]

The government shoud be taking care to Vets to the extent that NGO's should not need to exist. Bush has stated that "WE" are taking care of the troops. He also stated that Iraq had Vast Stockpiles of WMD. We all know the credibility of both statements.

[Ani]

When MY country begins to treat MY soldiers with the respect THEY deserve, I'll believe that SHE deserves the world's respect once again.

Until then, I'm with you One Hundred Percent, Paul.

Keep bring us Truth to power.

Be well,

Ani

[UNCLEJOE]

Billions for preemptive offense and not a farthing for tribute to the sacrificial soldiers sent to the gristmill, Iraq.

[realitytrumpsbull]

I think this is like patient-dumping. They do
something like this deliberately to make it
look like they don't have enough money. Want
to get to the bottom of the whole thing?
Cut the 'defense' budget by 90%. I guarantee
the veterans will still be taken care of,
but all the companies that rode on the US Army
to establish themselves in Iraq will be
sweating bullets and awaiting their turn on
the witness stand in the House or wherever
they do those things...I just read that
some guy got hit by a truck and I think he
died over there, anyway the family is suing
for 5 million...­what's REALLY going on, here?
End the sob-stories, and let's have the facts.
End the larceny, bring the military back to
a standard of public accountability. Let's see 60 Minutes in there in the budget office or something.­..
How do you LOSE 9 billion dollars? Smedley was
right. Fuck the army. Nothing personal.

[Errour]

So does everyone now understand why my grandma called the Republicans "the party of greed"?

Too many have suffered for W's macho fantasies. Will he and his rich Texas friends help with the hospital bills? Don't hold your breath.

[letsgetsmart]

This is an out of date story. The pentagon is now saying that they won't do it. Had to be publicized to stop it though.

[Janco54]

When I first heard this story I thought it must be an Andy Borowitz piece. But sadly, no. Just another case of the Bush Administration "supporting our troops." Maybe they're wearing their lapel pins though, so it's ok.
Pitiful, maddening, infuriatin­g...