Wounded Soldiers, you still gotta pay up

#1

Wounded Soldiers Fight Off Bill Collectors at Home
April 26, 2006

Hundreds of soldiers wounded inbattle in Iraq have found themselves fighting off bill collectors on the home front, according to a report to be released tomorrow. The draft report by the Government Accountability Office, which ABC News obtained, said that hundreds of wounded soldiers had military debts incurred through no fault of their own turned over to collection agencies.
"Financial friendly fire," said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform. "Because their financial records are so bad, this is a friendly fire where we are hurting and wounding our own."

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. (continues...)

Taken from:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/sto ... 152&page=1

Bot · #2

That shit needs to be resolved real quick. That's total bull.

#3

I read this the other day and I don't know what to think, or what to say. I think the situation is awful. Working for a bank I see the black and white way that things are done. If you owe you owe...that is how it works, but there has got to be some sort of relief for soldiers. And the shit of them having to pay signing bonuses back and stuff is rediculous. They should either not give them out, or the military should realize that that money is gone once they give it out! If a guy gets wounded its not his/her fault.

#4

This is just plain stupid. They are fighting to protect us and have sacrificed so much. Let's give them a break

Bot · #5

This is an administrative fuck up. They should be paying for it, not the soldiers.