Ding-a-Ling, bring out your dead

[formercia]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/05/dead.letters.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army said Friday it would apologize to the families of about 275 officers killed or wounded in action who were mistakenly sent letters urging them to return to active duty.

The letters were sent a few days after Christmas to more than 5,100 Army officers who had recently left the service. Included were letters to about 75 officers killed in action and about 200 wounded in action.

"Army personnel officials are contacting those officers' families now to personally apologize for erroneously sending the letters," the Army said in a brief news release issued Friday night.

The Army did not say how or when the mistake was discovered. It said the database normally used for such correspondence with former officers had been "thoroughly reviewed" to remove the names of wounded or dead soldiers.

[Roland99]

1. Bush: "I feel...happy!"

[krispos42]

6. ***WHACK*** "Ooph!"

Ah, the club of impeachment. Dibs on being the John Cleese character!

[formercia]

10. But, i'm not dead yet!! n/t

[krispos42]

12. "Yes, you are!" n/t

[Roland99]

14. "You'll be stone cold in a moment."

[formercia]

19. Have we met before?

:evilgrin:

[Roland99]

20. "Would you like to go back to my place?"

Ooops...wrong bit.


:D

[dogday]

2. As if these families have not been through enough

let's just really screw up and cause them even more pain... Leave it to the Military....

[Mabus]

3. A Taste of Armageddon

from one of imdb's Star Trek pages:

Plot Outline: Kirk and Spock must save their ship's crew when they are declared all killed in action in a bizarre computer simulated war where the actual deaths must occur to continue. http://imdb.com/title/tt0708414/

The Army got their databases screwed up and sent out letters to those they already had condemned to death. :grr:


:cry:

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. I bet they didn't forget

to stop sending their paychecks.

[Mabus]

15. or deducting incidentals from their last paycheck

Remember when they got caught deducting for food and other items when wounded troops weren't in the field. :grr:

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Didn't they start charging

the wounded for their meals while they're in hospital, at one point?

Support the troops, rah-rah. :sarcasm:

[Mabus]

17. That's what I was talking about

Another sign of GOP faux patriotism.

[DesertRat]

4. I can't imagine the pain that these families have to to through

Then the Army adds insult to injury by asking them to return to active duty?! Disgraceful!!

[formercia]

5. Phantom soldiers, phantom voters.

They were probably kept in the database to pad their manpower figures.

I figure they can come up with at least one phantom division if they keep the dead and wounded on the books.

I wonder who is getting their pay.

Do they get to vote?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. K&R here's a 4th vote...that's a good question and reasonable assumption formercia

[formercia]

9. A scam from Viet Nam made me question

Some thugs infiltrated a mortuary unit and were shipping China White home in coffins.

[annabanana]

8. Oh Dear God.

This elevates the concept of "adding insult to injury" to a new and excruciatingly painful threshold. What the hell good is breathtaking data absorption ability without a discerning sensibility attached?

[lonestarnot]

13. Is this just unfuckingbelievable or what?

[formercia]

18. It made the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6237607.stm