Body armor and pay problems continue to be an issue for our Troops in the field and our wounded Veterans back home. For more, read this piece from Michael John Hurst, a member of IAVA who was comissioned to conduct a study into pay problems for wounded soldiers:
Although the sky is the limit when it comes to funding government contractors, the Pentagon always manages to get its money's worth out of the troops. Eddie Rebrook learned that lesson the hard way - after getting a $700 bill to pay for the body armor that was destroyed in an IED attack that left him severely wounded.
To read the full story, Click Here.
When pressed by Sen. Robert Byrd, Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Peter Schoomaker said that the story was unusual. But, Gen. Schoomaker promised Byrd to "correct it if there's any truth to it." Apparently, Gen. Schoomaker isn't a regular viewer of ABC's Nightline. On last Tuesday's episode, the Army admitted that 5,549 soldiers had payroll problems after being evacuated from Iraq for medical reasons.
Last week, the Chief of Staff did find time to join the rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in firing off an admonishment to the Washington Post for its depiction of a wounded soldier in a political cartoon that was critical of Sec. Rumsfeld.
We can only hope that our nation's leaders will soon stop playing political games with cartoon soldiers and start making sure the proper systems are in place to care for the real ones.
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PLUS: If you're in the DC area tonight, you can catch an advance screening of "Why We Fight," the powerful new film that examines the American military industrial complex, with all proceeds from the evening going to benefit IAVA. Click Here for more information on attending the screening.
Among the many luminaries in the film, there's Sen. John McCain, who got more than a little peeved recently about a couple of scenes detailing his opinion of Halliburton and Vice President Cheney. Read more on that flap here, from Huffposter Steve Clemons.