Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Injured in war, bill collectors at their door

How nice.

ABC is reporting that the same military that is overpaying contractors to the tune of billions of dollars in Iraq has sent bill collectors to the door of wounded soldiers.

From the article:

Army specialist Tyson Johnson of Mobile, Ala., had just been promoted in a field ceremony in Iraq when a mortar round exploded outside his tent, almost killing him.

"It took my kidney, my left kidney, shrapnel came in through my head, back of my head," he recounted.

His injuries forced him out of the military, and the Army demanded he repay an enlistment bonus of $2,700 because he'd only served two-thirds of his three-year tour.

When he couldn't pay, Johnson's account was turned over to bill collectors. He ended up living out of his car when the Army reported him to credit agencies as having bad debts, making it impossible for him to rent an apartment.

Unbelievable. Truly.
Well, not really.
Thank you for fighting our war, now please enjoy a bad credit rating and worse.


5 comments:

Tom Harper said...

And for some odd reason, enlistments are down. Hmmm...I can't imagine why. "Support our troops" and then drop them like a hot potato when they come home injured.

Matt Vella said...

Who was that fuck that had the campaign posters that said, "Support our troops, secure our borders"? I'm sure he'll be willing to lend a hand to support these guys.

Except for not.

Mike V. said...

what they should do is find a recruitment office and offer their services.
it's the only thing that makes sense..

Unknown said...

Are you kidding me? This is awful and there's no excuse for it. I expect to see more of this as well as more money being thrown at contractors.

LA said...

This makes me sick. Has Tony Snow started yet? I think this should be the first issue he's forced to address. That'll break him in.