Wounded Soldiers Fight Off Bill Collectors at Home

[Swede]

This is not right. This is a true obscenity.


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.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/story?id=1894152&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[deutsey]

1. Support the troops.

:eyes:

[bigscott]

4. this stuff is just unreal -

i heard something like this before and once the local press got a handle on it the army settled - maybe all this travesty needs is the light of day? Not to excuse the army and the government treating veterans like shit

[Festivito]

2. LBN post with link to Yahoo

Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News
deadparrot (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-26-06 11:34 PM
Original message
Wounded US soldiers fighting off military debts: report
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2250015

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usiraqmilitarydebts

[rman]

3. Jaded as i am, the RW still manages to do things

that surprise me.

I wonder if that's actually in the enlistment contract, in the fine-print somewhere - that you have to repay the enlistment bonus if you can't fulfill your contract because of job related injuries.

[ThomCat]

5. So you have to be un-injured for 3 years to deserve that bonus?

That's unreal. They got him, used him, and discharged him. What the hell are they thinking, charging him for having been medically discharged?

[magellan]

6. I don't know for sure when they changed this

...but having to return enlistment bonuses for failure to serve the full gig (for reasons beyond one's control) was NOT standard when I was in the military back in the early 80s. I detect the malodorous whiff of Rummy behind this cruel and callous repayment scheme.

[midnight]

7. This just makes me so outragged.....

This soldier has to live out of his car. There should be free housing for these people untill they get back on their feet. Don't we give other employees of the govt. living accomidations?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Print many copies of this and distribute outside recruitment places.

Don't forget to credit ABC as the source.

And put a header at the top: BEFORE YOU ENLIST, READ THIS.

At the bottom, print: DON'T BELIEVE ME? GO TO http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/story?id=1894152

[Arkansas Granny]

9. This is just shameful. This is certainly the way to treat a soldier

who has been badly wounded in the service of his country. Especially when a man who was AWOL for part of his enlistment sits as Commander-in-Chief.

:mad:

[zbdent]

10. Remember, Repukes pushed a bill last year which protected

credit card companies from people who previously could have filed for bankruptcy due to medical issues or personal injuries which caused them to lose everything . . .