Please all check this out...........

[Minnesota Libra]

...I've been wondering for sometime what the military view was of this "war on terror". Not the generals who get to set back in their safe little offices and order men to die, but I wanted to know what the grunts on the ground thought and what the sailors thought and now we get a glimpse into what the answer might be.

Wounded Soldiers Left in Debt

http://www.strike-the-root.com/61/herman/herman11.html

[Hissyspit]

1. Excerpts:

US Navy petty officer Joel Jenkins wrote: “TYPICAL GOVERNMENT ACTION, It doesn't matter that the 19 year old kid from NC will never walk again, or the 21 year old that that eats through a straw because his jaw got shot off. As long as Uncle Sam still gets paid, they don't care. And I say this after having serving for going on 8 years . . . and still in this clusterfuck.”

Sgt. Dana K. Beausoleil also offered something from his own experience: “While in Iraq my unit suffered several casualties. One soldier, an E-7, had his face literally smashed in. Almost all the bones in his face were broken and he lost three teeth. We MEDEVAC'd him out . . . 6 months later he was still on medical hold. He'd lost like 40 lbs and looked pretty rough but was fighting mad. It seems the Army doesn't want to replace his teeth that he lost in combat. So no it doesn't surprise me that this is happening in the army. They're the only service I know of that makes you pay for military issued equipment if you make a human error and break something that belongs to the US government by accident . . . but every other night I watched us lob 155 mm shells into the desert to "fire for effect" at no particular target just to let them know we were out there. We are truly ruled by idiots.”

[acmavm]

2. ...We are truly ruled by idiots.”

This guy has taken the talent of understatement and elevated it to an artform.

[Kagemusha]

5. About one narrow subject there, re: paying for breaking equipment

That's something done by Congress. It reflects the idea of a citizen army where the army's equipment is paid for by The People, not by some king who can just put it on his tab. Therefore, wasting The People's money is a civil wrong that must be corrected by repayment. It's a reflection of longstanding American values. Nonetheless, it's not something that presidents created; it's a rule created by Congress in its wisdom (or vanity) to create accountability on behalf of the taxpayers/ voters.

The difference being a 155mm shell is meant to be fired and replacing ammo is a political priority.

Bottom line: The "US Government" in this case is Congress. The military can only obey. It's not like Army idiots gratuitously made this system up. Not, well, in this case, which is my point.

[Breeze54]

3. Try this --

Americans For Shared Sacrifice
Shared Sacrifice leads to the Common Good
http://americansforsharedsacrifice.org/phpBB1/index.php

http://blog.justanothersoldier.com/

Vets of the Week
http://www.iava.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=14&Itemid=119



Some Iraq war vets go homeless after return to US

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060519/us_nm/iraq_homeless_veterans_dc

By Daniel Trotta Fri May 19, 1:12 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) -

The nightmare of Iraq was bad enough for Vanessa Gamboa. Unprepared for combat
beyond her basic training, the supply specialist soon found herself in a firefight,
commanding a handful of clerks.

"They promoted me to sergeant. I knew my job but I didn't know anything
about combat. So I'm responsible for all these people and I don't know
what to tell them but to duck," Gamboa said.

The battle, on a supply delivery run, ended without casualties,
and it did little to steel Gamboa for what awaited her back home in Brooklyn.

When the single mother was discharged in April, after her second tour in Iraq,
she was 24 and had little money and no place to live.
She slept in her son's day-care center.

Snip-->
DISCHARGED AND FORGOTTEN

One theme of the documentary is that veterans who risked their lives in war
are too easily discarded by society once they are out of the military.
The film shows Noel being denied housing by New York City's housing agency.

Gamboa had a similar experience.

More at link....


Vanessa Gamboa, an Iraq war veteran of the U.S Army and single mother,
holds up her new U.S. Citizenship documents after being sworn in as a
U.S. Citizen in downtown Brooklyn, New York, May 19, 2006.
(Mike Segar/Reuters)
--------------------------------

EDIT: COPYRIGHT. PLEASE POST ONLY 4 OR 5 PARAGRAPHS
FROM THE COPYRIGHTED NEWS SOURCE PER DU RULES.

[Minnesota Libra]

4. Just giving others the chance to see this

:kick:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. Kick!

:mad: