H
Harry Hope
Guest
Support the troops!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5061221.html
Short of Purple Hearts, Navy tells vet to buy own
orean War veteran Nyles Reed, 75, opened an envelope last week to
learn a Purple Heart had been approved for injuries he sustained as a
Marine on June 22, 1952.
But there was no medal.
Just a certificate and a form stating that the medal was "out of
stock."
"I can imagine, of course, with what's going on in Iraq and
Afghanistan, there's a big shortage," Reed said.
"At least, I would imagine so."
The form letter from the Navy Personnel Command told Reed he could
wait 90 days and resubmit an application, or buy his own medal.
After waiting 55 years, however, Reed decided to pay $42 for his own
Purple Heart and accompanying ribbon - plus state sales taxes - at a
military surplus store.
Yep, the Pentagon is asking military veterans to buy their own medals.
See, times are tough right now, budgets are tight, we're fighting two
wars in the middle east, and America's veterans need to realize that
the Pentagon just doesn't have the resources to provide them with
silly things like medals.
In a related story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070816/pl_bloomberg/a_piz20xqxeu
Pentagon Paid $998,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers
A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million
over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs,
including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in
Texas, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine
screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451
to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape
Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
Pardon me while I barf for a moment.
By EarlG
Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Harry
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5061221.html
Short of Purple Hearts, Navy tells vet to buy own
orean War veteran Nyles Reed, 75, opened an envelope last week to
learn a Purple Heart had been approved for injuries he sustained as a
Marine on June 22, 1952.
But there was no medal.
Just a certificate and a form stating that the medal was "out of
stock."
"I can imagine, of course, with what's going on in Iraq and
Afghanistan, there's a big shortage," Reed said.
"At least, I would imagine so."
The form letter from the Navy Personnel Command told Reed he could
wait 90 days and resubmit an application, or buy his own medal.
After waiting 55 years, however, Reed decided to pay $42 for his own
Purple Heart and accompanying ribbon - plus state sales taxes - at a
military surplus store.
Yep, the Pentagon is asking military veterans to buy their own medals.
See, times are tough right now, budgets are tight, we're fighting two
wars in the middle east, and America's veterans need to realize that
the Pentagon just doesn't have the resources to provide them with
silly things like medals.
In a related story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070816/pl_bloomberg/a_piz20xqxeu
Pentagon Paid $998,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers
A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million
over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs,
including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in
Texas, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine
screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451
to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape
Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
Pardon me while I barf for a moment.
By EarlG
Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Harry