Shadow's Taxicab reports: Drafted

[shadowknows69]

Is the accounting office of the Army trying to kill older soldiers or is it an execution order from even higher up? That’s the question that leaped to my mind after meeting a soldier who, in his own words, has been “drafted”.

I picked him up at our local bus station and he was headed to the base. He was an older man I’d guess early to late 40’s if not older. We’ve been getting a slow trickle of new soldiers from a brigade which is going to be stationed here soon so I asked him if he was just getting to Fort Drum. In fact he was getting back from block leave but he went on to inform me that he was attempting to get out of the army but that he’d been “stop lossed”. He was at least 15 years active service and I think he said he’d done some Active Guard Reserve and I think that’s where they snatched him from.

He explained he was trying to get out due to back injuries he’d sustained and at least one doctor had declared him undeployable. He also had put in a request for consideration of deployment avoidance due to marital duress. Apparently though his company commander decided to ignore the findings of the one doctor, who deemed this guy couldn’t even wear his body armor or helmet due to his back, and put it up for review. The punch line is that while his case is being reviewed he still gets sent to Iraq. Let’s examine the absurdity of that one more time. This soldier is going to be sent to a war zone where presumably he won’t be able to wear armor or a helmet effectively to wait to see if some slow moving army panel decides if he’s well enough to go to war. I just had to write that out one more time for myself to make sure it was true.

My jaw must have been hanging on the floor the whole time I spoke to this man. This was the first soldier I think I’ve met who directly had the contract they fulfilled with the military blatantly betrayed. I guess I always thought the majority of stop lossed GI’s were newer recruits being made to stay past their four years but a fifteen year vet with legitimate medical problems no less? I suspect the rosy numbers we’ve been given about increased recruitment levels may not be entirely accurate.

I related to him some tales I’ve heard about similar imbalances in the decision making process on who gets to leave the military and who gets unwittingly thrown back into the meat grinder. I told him about two separate soldiers I’d met both with injuries from the war. The one had his hand severely injured, having lost a couple fingers and his case was up for review as well and after 6 months of rehabilitation there was a chance he was going to be sent back to combat. I guess because he still had use of his trigger hand. Then I told him about the soldier I met who was definitely getting out of the army on medical discharge due to a shrapnel wound to the leg. This man ran to my cab when I picked him up so make of that what you will.

My passenger couldn’t believe this but I asked him how his situation was any different and he conceded it wasn’t. For an organization as structured and strict as the military there seems to be a staggering lack of fairness when it comes to these matters. Personally I’ve met soldiers getting kicked out for their first DWI or bar room fight and still others who were busted for selling hallucinogens or other felonies getting a slap on the wrist.

My passenger made no secret about his feelings for the war. I made a comment at one point that they probably wouldn’t be having recruitment problems if someone had run the war a little better.

“Well I don’t think we should have gone into Iraq in the first place. I think Bush was just trying to mop up his daddy’s war”

“And now daddy’s apparently going to have to bail him out of it, not sure if that isn’t a ‘frying pan into the fire’ situation but something has to change.”, I replied.

I asked him if his feelings on the war contributed to his decision to leave the army and he didn’t really indicate that it was. It was more his health in general and the fact his marriage was falling apart like so many soldiers I’ve met. I learned he hadn’t been to any of the recent war on terror combat zones but had done five deployments over the last two decades from Honduras in 1984, Haiti, Panama and Gulf War I. I found it surprising that he missed Iraq or Afghanistan but his station or rank at that point may have exempted him. Only now that he tried to leave did they seem to urgently need him in the war on terror. He said his company commander hated him now. Sarcastically I said, “Yes, you’re an unpatriotic asshole for injuring your back accidentally like that and you clearly haven’t given any of your time in service to your country.” I couldn’t contain my disgust at this poor man’s situation. It was obvious he was frightened about the prospect of going but I doubt that would be the case if it wasn’t for his ailment.

So this begs the question in the minds of us conspiracy theorists. Is the U.S. Army specifically deploying older and broken soldiers in hopes that they might avoid having to pay lengthy pensions or VA benefits? Similar stories I've heard about the injustice in military justice toward our own people makes it a compelling and unsettling thought to say the least.

I tried to give him my best advice on how he could fight this and I feel so guilty now that I didn’t learn his name and kick some ideas here to DU to try to help this guy and many like him. I told him he should talk to his congress critters and he said he had. He was from Mississippi and he had contacted his reps there but I suggested he should talk to our state Reps and Senators too. Gave him Clinton, Schumer’s and McHugh’s names as where he could start. I also told him about applyforredress.org and explained to him that hundreds of active soldiers have petitioned congress to end the war as was their right.

“Well, we’re still citizens and we still have our rights, right?”

“I hope so sir, I truly hope so”

The ride ends. The draft is here. Always tip your cabbie.
Shadow out.

[FloridaPat]

1. It's how they're going to save social security. No jobs. Raise the

age limit and get everyone in to earn money enough to eat. They get them killed on wars based on lies.

[havocmom]

3. Can't save Social Security if you don't have people gainfully employed

And that is not happening for SO many reasons.

[havocmom]

2. Shadow, are you keeping these taxi tales archived where you can get to them?

There is a book evolving.

VA tried REAL hard, back in the 1960s to ignore health issues my of uncle and ALL the guys he worked with for a few years. VA ignored their similar complaints and symptoms until all of they were so eaten with cancer they just had weeks left. THEN the VA admitted illness was present. Those guys did a lot of work in the atomic test range. Most were dead by end of 1967.

So, do I suspect there is a formula used to try and save a buck by making sure there are fewer survivors to take care of? Oh, yeah, I believe. And I refuse to don any tin foil for my beliefs on THIS one, Shadow. It doesn't take a scientist like my uncle was to figure it out.

When they are calling up guys in their 60s and guys with cancer to fight DimSon's war for profit, they are resorting to all sorts of shit. When they send a chap who can't put on the accessories, like the gentleman you had in you cab, they really aren't interested in having survivors.

When they privatize the basic supply of troops the military used to do themselves... when most of our casualties happen while troops are protecting private convoys to supply the troops, who have to protect the convoys that supply the troops, who have to protect the convoys that supply the troops, who have to protect the convoys, that supply the troops... Well, what is going on is NOT warfare, but war profiteering. Busy work somebody bills for and too many bleed for.

War for the sake of quarterly profits. America used to do better by its military.

America damn well needs to change course.

[shadowknows69]

4. They are all in DU's journal so I pray they will keep them safe

Also on my computer and I've printed most of them but now my printer is on the fritz. Also going to email them to a few people.

[Rex]

5. Ugh, Fort Drum.

And its wonderful city, Watertown. :puke:

[shadowknows69]

7. Home crap home

but it's my crappy home so please show some respect Rex. B-)

[Rex]

9. Hey it beats South Korea!

My last duty station was Fort Drum - I never want to see snow again! :hi:

[shadowknows69]

6. I have to add one thing

and I have to give my wife credit for catching a conspiracy theory I never even thought of concerning this post and that's no small feat. Must be rubbing off on her lol. When I mentioned this gentleman had suggested he fought in Honduras in the 80's my wife reminded me our new Defense Secretary is one of the chief engineers of Regan's dirty little wars. Things that make you go hmmm huh? She also immediately suggested that I don't write about a possibility of that connection if I didn't want to get a visit and I reminded her the "I give a shit" train left the station some time ago.

[shadowknows69]

8. One kick for the late after crowd

n/t

[Nickster]

10. Don't forget about Negroponte, he was quite involved in Honduras in the 80s. n/t

[Nickster]

11. Honestly, I don't think they are intentionally trying to kill off older soldiers. I think it's a

matter of the more experienced soldiers being more effective than the younger ones in combat. They need those guys and they only have so many left. They are stretching them so thin. Basically choking the life out of the golden goose so to speak. I think the brain drain they will experience is going to devastate our military for quite some time once this war is over. What experienced soldier would dare stay after being abused so much?