b. medusa 12 November 2007
posted the day after because we vets are so easily forgotten. how many times have you seen “Support Our Vets”?
UPDATE: Military demands return of bonus pay from wounded vets (h/t to pudgyindian)
Wounded Vet Told To Pay Back Bonus
Partially-Blinded In Iraq, GI Billed For Army Signing Bonus; Pentagon Admits Mistake
Veterans more likely to be homeless
WASHINGTON (CNN) — More than 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States are military veterans, although they represent 11 percent of the civilian adult population, according to a new report.
On any given night last year, nearly 196,000 veterans slept on the street, in a shelter or in transitional housing, the study by the Homelessness Research Institute found.
“Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people,” the report said. “This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more likely to be employed and have a lower poverty rate than the general population.”
[…]
Veterans such as Jason Kelley find themselves in a Catch-22, not able to find a job because of the lack of an apartment, and not being able to get an apartment because of not having a job, The Associated Press reported.
“The only training I have is infantry training, and there’s not really a need for that in the civilian world,” the AP quoted Kelley as saying in a phone interview. In addition, he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he told the AP. Kelley served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard, the news agency said.
full article (h/t to ABB)
Military Sexual Trauma
Roughly one in seven of America’s active duty military soldiers is a woman, but a NOW investigation found that sexual assault and rape is widespread. One study of National Guard and Reserve forces found that almost one in four women had been assaulted or raped. Last year alone, almost 3,000 soldiers reported sexual assault and rape by other soldiers.
In one of the only national television broadcasts of the issue, NOW features women who speak out for the first time about what happened. One woman recounts her ordeal of rape by her superior officer. Many more don’t report the incidents for fear of how it will affect their careers. The shocking phenomenon has a label: military sexual trauma, or MST. NOW meets women courageously battling to overcome their MST, bringing light to an issue that’s putting the Army in shame.
read the transcript
watch the video
Veteran Dies After VA Refuses Treatment For Days
Since Walter Reed is considered the military’s premier medical facility, many are now questioning the condition of military and veteran facilities around the country.
Today we look at the story of a 58-year-old Vietnam veteran named Willie Dougherty. He died in October after suffering two pelvic fractures. His family says he died because he was refused treatment.
full transcript
Monsanto’s Agent Orange: The Persistent Ghost from the Vietnam War
Meryl Nass, MD
From 1962 to 1970, the US military sprayed 72 million liters of
herbicides, mostly Agent Orange, in Vietnam. Over one million
Vietnamese were exposed to the spraying, as well as over 100,000
Americans and allied troops. Dr. James Clary, a scientist at the
Chemical Weapons Branch, Eglin Air Force Base, who designed the
herbicide spray tank and wrote a 1979 report on Operation Ranch Hand
(the name of the spraying program), told Senator Daschle in 1988,
“When we (military scientists) initiated the herbicide program in the
1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin
contamination in the herbicide. We were even aware that the ‘military’
formulation had a higher dioxin concentration than the ‘civilian’
version due to the lower cost and speed of manufacture. However,
because the material was to be used on the ‘enemy,’ none of us were
overly concerned. We never considered a scenario in which our own
personnel would become contaminated with the herbicide.”
quoted by Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, 1990
[…]
By 1983, 9170 veterans had filed claims for disabilities that they
said were caused by Agent Orange. The VA denied compensation to 7709,
saying that a facial rash was the only disease associated with
exposure.
Congress passed the Veterans’ Dioxin and Radiation Exposure
Compensation Standards Act of 1984 in response. It required the VA to
appoint a ‘Veterans’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards’ to
review the literature on dioxin and submit recommendations to the head
of the VA.
According to Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, “The VA.directly contradicted its
own established practice, promulgating instead the more stringent
requirement that compensation depends on establishing a cause and
effect relationship,” improperly denying the bulk of the claims.
full article
fast forward to DU
Military may ease standards for recruits
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Faced with higher recruiting goals, the Pentagon is quietly looking for ways to make it easier for people with minor criminal records to join the military, The Associated Press has learned.
The review, in its early stages, comes as the number of Army recruits needing waivers for bad behavior — such as trying drugs, stealing, carrying weapons on school grounds and fighting (hate crimes? - b. medusa 1) — rose from 15 percent in 2006 to 18 percent this year. And it reflects the services’ growing use of criminal, health and other waivers to build their ranks.
Overall, about three in every 10 recruits must get a waiver, according to Pentagon statistics obtained by AP, and about two-thirds of those approved in recent years have been for criminal behavior. Some recruits must get more than one waiver to cover things ranging from any criminal record, to health problems such as asthma or flat feet, to low aptitude scores — and even for some tattoos (spider webs? swastikas? - b. medusa 2).
full article
1, 2Hate Groups Are Infiltrating the Military, Group Asserts
- war is a racket , counter-recruitment , rape , war , fta , veteran mistreatment , militarism , imperialism , poverty , violence , oppression
