Comments on: Army Desertion Rate Soaring

Number Of U.S. Army Deserters Up 80% Since Iraq War Started; Highest Rate Since 1980

[frankly6]

Ty Ziegel peers from beneath his Marine Corps baseball cap, his once boyish face burned beyond recognition by a suicide bomber''s attack in Iraq just three days before Christmas 2004.


Ty Ziegel, a Marine, was badly wounded in Iraq. He battled the VA over disability benefits when he returned.


He lost part of his skull in the blast and part of his brain was damaged. Half of his left arm was amputated and some of the fingers were blown off his right hand.

Ziegel, a 25-year-old Marine sergeant, knew the dangers of war when he was deployed for his second tour in Iraq.

But he didn''t expect a new battle when he returned home as a wounded warrior: a fight with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Sometimes, you get lost in the system," he told CNN. "I feel like a Social Security number. I don''t feel like Tyler Ziegel."

His story is one example of how medical advances in the battlefield have outpaced the home front. Many wounded veterans return home feeling that the VA system, specifically its 62-year-old disability ratings system, has failed them.

[antoniof123]

Why should they have to go to jail at all the arm chair general never served he ran and got away with it because of Daddy.

[krazykat2525]

i am glad to see the people deserting when the usa does not take care of its own, the vets. My own slogan is h***no we won''t go, not til you take care of those who went b/4.***Forget protests 4 or against the war; i weep not for those who go & die; i weep for those who return & are tossed away like garbage.***get your priorities straight.***fight for the living, not the dead. WW11 vets pay was cut to $400; let Congress & the President live on those wages and give their high priced salaries to those who deserve it, the vets; i am just wondering; they fired on us at Penn; will they use nukes on us in their own states or is that what the b52''s are for? The American Revolution is coming and sooner than most folks expect; the US Supreme Court stating developers can take your land decided that. Only the judge in Ohio stating not in my state you won''t delayed the war at that time. Would like to see ALL of America take a sit out for 1 day everywhere in protest of how our vets are treated.

[forthepeopl1]

SENATOR LINSEY GRAHM, TO ALL AMERICANS, ON MONEY FOR TROOPS

"To vote for it would violate our oath of office, in which we solemnly swear to support and defend the BUSH/CHENEY DOCTRIN he said in a floor speech this week.

***

[forthepeopl1]

SENATOR LINSEY GRAHM, TO ALL AMERICANS, ON MONEY FOR TROOPS

"To vote for it would violate our oath of office, in which we solemnly swear to support and defend the BUSH/CHENEY DOCTRIN he said in a floor speech this week.

[forthepeopl1]

SENATOR LINSEY GRAHM, TO ALL AMERICANS, ON MONEY FOR TROOPS

"To vote for it would violate our oath of office, in which we solemnly swear to support and defend the BUSH/CHENEY DOCTRIN he said in a floor speech this week.

[hypnotoad72]

I recall this chap on cable news saying "Nobody owes anyone anything". The same phrase is used by another chap on a CNN blog, which allows people to sign up and respond to his naive rants.

[jasarack]

Unfortunately, the incompetence of the Bush Administration and the neocons who wrecklessly took us to war without sufficient justification and planning has reached a new level. It is clear that the U.S. is unprepared to deal with the scars of the war on our soldiers, and to help them reenter our society. This is indeed an incredible indictment of the war "planners" and supporters. Simply putting a "Support Our Troops" bumper sticker on your car does nothing to help these troops.

[jasarack]

Unfortunately, the incompetence of the Bush Administration and the neocons who wrecklessly took us to war without sufficient justification and planning is reaching a new level. It is clear that the U.S. is unprepared to deal with the scars of the war on our soldiers, and to help them reenter our society. This is indeed an incredible indictment of the war "planners" and supporters. Simply putting a "Support Our Troops" bumper sticker on your car does nothing to help these troops.

[hypnotoad72]

I recall this chap on cable news saying "Nobody owes anyone anything". The same phrase is used by another chap on a CNN blog, which allows people to sign up and respond to his naive rants.