Senator: Stop harassing wounded about bonuses

[unhappycamper]

Senator: Stop harassing wounded about bonuses
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 25, 2007 16:04:12 EST

NEW YORK — Service members seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan after they received a $10,000 bonus for enlisting are being dunned by the Pentagon to repay portions of the incentive money, says a U.S. senator who calls the practice an example of military policy gone wrong.

“A bill in the mail is not the kind of present our soldiers deserve in this holiday season,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. said. “Our veterans are not being treated with the dignity, respect and thanks that they deserve. It’s just a disgrace.”

At a news conference Sunday, he said the policy remained in effect despite a report last July by a presidential commission that wounded veterans were being unfairly penalized by a requirement that enlistees must fulfill their entire term of service or lose a pro-rated portion of their bonus.

“This policy and early discharge as a result of service-related injury is now preventing thousands of combat-wounded warriors from getting the bonuses they have earned,” Schumer said. “This includes several hundred New Yorkers who suffered wounds or catastrophic injuries before concluding their duty.”

He said that when the case of Pfc. Jordan Fox, an Army sniper partially blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, was called to the Pentagon’s attention, officials replied that the demand for him to repay $2,800 was a “clerical error” and cancelled the debt.

If the Mt. Lebanon, Pa., soldier’s case was an isolated incident, there has been no explanation of why hundreds of other wounded veterans have also received letters demanding repayment, Schumer said. “When you talk to the Pentagon you get different answers from different people,” he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_bonuses_071125/

[LiberalFighter]

1. I would say technically until the soldiers have been released

they are serving. If they are returned to civilian life due to injuries preventing them from completing their tour it should be considered satisfied. The same if they are killed in action. If they go AWOL that is a different matter.