Why Does The US Insist on Kicking Its Vets To The Curb.

My father a Vietnam vet watches the TV with disgust. "Why are they doing this to 'US' again?", he asks rhetorically and to no one in particular. He sees his younger "brothers " in arms marching off to a "Vietnam with sand" an un-winable war with no attainable peace. He sees them coming home to the same neglect that plagued his return to "The World."

This story from February seems to be the one that helped jar the rest of the American public to a state of wakefulness.

Hurt soldier billed for gear to be repaid
Lieutenant shelled out $650 to gain discharge after injury in Iraq
From Larry Shaughnessy, CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former Army soldier will be reimbursed after he was required to pay for his equipment when he was wounded in Iraq, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

First Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook was discharged for medical reasons last week after being injured in Iraq, and the Army said Wednesday he paid about $650 for 18 items that he was issued before going to Iraq.

"Whether procedures weren't followed or the system failed him is currently under investigation," said a written statement issued by a spokesman at Fort Hood in Texas. "What is clear is that this command is going to do the right thing by Lieutenant Rebrook, who is one of our nation's proud veterans."

Mother Jones blog (MoJo blog) highlights the newest in a series of disgraceful treatment of out nations bravest.

Wounded soldiers return home to another fight--bill collectors
Diane E. Dees 04/26/06

The Government Accountability Office is releasing a report tomorrow that hundreds of American soldiers wounded in Iraq have had their debts turned over to collection agencies.

ABC News tells the story of Army specialist Tyson Johnson, who had just been promoted when a a mortar round exploded outside his tent, wounding him in the left kidney and the head. The injuries forced him out of the Army, which then demanded he repay an enlistment bonus of $2,700 because he had served only two-thirds of his tour. Johnson was unable to return the money, his account was turned over to a collection agency, and he ended up living in his car because of his bad credit record.

As the nation's morals and sense of outrage awakens from a six year slumber, hopefully the ones responsible for extorting our vets will face the judgment their ethical crimes demand.