Return Your Enlistment Bonus With the Hand You Have Left

Does this make anyone else want to puke?

What happened to the America I was told about in school as I was growing up? I remember it distinctly as the class after Greek Mythology. I don't remember the name of the class, but I am beginning to think it was American Mythology. In what America is it OK to give G.I.s enlistment bonuses to "protect the homeland", send them into battle in a country that never attacked us, bring them home missing limbs, eyes, faces, etc., and then demand portions of the enlistment bonuses back?

Read an MSNBC article here:
View the video here.

Is this thing on? (*tap*tap*tap)

Does anyone still think allowing recruiters into our schools is OK? Remember, the No Child Left Behind Act requires school districts to provide military recruiters with numbers and addresses of children (so none are left behind). Of course, you can opt out by submitting a written request, although you are not notified of the government's invasion into your child's life or your rights regarding that intrusion. This is not No Child Left Behind, it is No Child Left Unrecruited!!!

Update: After news aired about the thousands of wounded service personnel being asked to give back bonuses due to their inability (serious injuries) to serve out their commitments, the Pentagon sent a Brigadeer General to correct our misperception of the situation. He graciously acknowledged the situation, said it was not their policy, promised it would not happen again and said troops who've already paid the money back should be reimbursed. The way Paul Kiel of TPM put it:

Tucker said that army policy “is that soldiers who are wounded in combat or have line of duty investigation injuries… we will not go after a recoupment of any bonuses they receive.” Recouping bonuses, he said, “doesn’t pass the common sense test.”

But notice that phrasing. While that policy, if implemented, would prevent injured soldiers from having to pay back bonuses they’d already received, they might still not receive their full enlistment bonus. That’s because the Army could still withhold parts of the bonus on the basis that the soldiers didn’t complete their full tour due to the injury.

I think it is an interesting way of looking at what Tucker was saying.

I'm glad that the outcry was great as this story began to unfold and that the government is being forced to move quickly to not further punish those who have served so faithfully and suffered so greatly.