Reply #4: Troops Wait For Body Armor Reimbursements

[buzzsaw_23]

Troops Wait for Body Armor Reimbursements


Friday September 30, 2005 12:46 AM

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly a year after Congress demanded action, the Pentagon has still failed to figure out a way to reimburse soldiers for body armor and equipment they purchased to better protect themselves while serving in Iraq.

For Marine Sgt. Todd Bowers that extra piece of equipment - a high-tech rifle scope bought by his father for $600 and a $100 pair of goggles - turned out to be a life or death purchase. And he has never been reimbursed.

Bowers, who is from Arizona but going to school in Washington, D.C., was shot by a sniper during his second tour in Iraq, but the round lodged in his scope, and his goggles protected his eyes from the shrapnel that struck his face.

``We weren't provided those going to Iraq,'' he said Thursday. ``But they literally saved my life.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5311714,00.html