Wounded Vet Told To Pay Back Bonus

Partially-Blinded In Iraq, GI Billed For Army Signing Bonus; Pentagon Admits Mistake

(CBS)  Jordan Fox received a $10,000 signing bonus when he joined the Army. The Mt. Lebanon man served his country in Iraq, where as a sniper he survived machine gun battles and a roadside bomb that knocked him unconscious and blinded him in his right eye.

The injury forced the military to send him home. A few weeks later, Fox received a bill from the Department of Defense, saying he owes the military nearly $3,000 from his original enlistment bonus because he couldn't fulfill three months of his commitment.

"I tried to do my best and serve my country and unfortunately I was hurt in the process and now they're telling me that they want their money back," Fox told CBS station KDKA-TV.

This is apparently not an isolated bureaucratic foul-up. The military is allegedly demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses - up to $30,000 in some cases. Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

Military regulations do allow for discharged soldiers to be forced to pay back part of their enlistment bonuses if they do not serve their entire commitment, if they were found to have "pre-existing" conditions, such as psychological disorders.

As part of an investigation by KDKA into the letter to Fox, the station contacted the Pentagon. After looking into the matter, a military spokesman told KDKA correspondent Marty Griffin that the bill sent to Fox was a mistake.

"We have seen where the problems have been made [in] the system," Major Nathan Banks told Griffin. Banks said the military was working to "make a wrong a right."

But the Pentagon refused comment on allegations that thousands of other soldiers just sent home wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan will receive these sorts of bills.

Fox has been helping with a local charity founded by his mother, Operation Pittsburgh Pride, sending care packages to troops in Iraq. Because of his battle wounds Fox unfortunately will not be able to pursue his dream of being a police officer.

News of the military's letter to Fox spread quickly after being reported by KDKA. "It's blown up very quickly," Fox said. "I'm kind of shocked and a little embarrassed by it all."

Shortly before appearing on a national TV interview last night, Fox was informed that the Defense Department had relieved his debt.

"He has nothing to pay now," Banks told KDKA correspondent David Highfield.

"Hopefully this will turn into change for not only me but many other soldiers that have lost limbs, become permanently deaf," Fox said. "I hope to see a change for everybody."

"I need to push as hard as I can to stop this, because it's just not right."

Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., told the station that he has proposed a bill that would guarantee soldiers receive full benefit of bonuses.

"Hard as it may be to believe, the Department of Defense has been denying injured servicemen and women the bonuses that they qualified for," Altmire said at a press conference last month for H.R. 3793.

[jhallard]

%u201CGo fight for us, but don%u2019t get wounded: Because when you come home we won%u2019t help you. You%u2019re our heroes!?!%u201D


This is perhaps the most outrageous thing I have ever heard of. George W. Bush and the Pentagon have stepped over the line. Why on Earth would anyone want to fight for the United States%u2014save for all of the illegal alien enlistees?

[jhallard]

%u201CGo fight for us, but don%u2019t get wounded: Because when you come home we won%u2019t help you. You%u2019re our heroes!?!%u201D


This is perhaps the most outrageous thing I have ever heard of. George W. Bush and the Pentagon have stepped over the line. Why on Earth would anyone want to fight for the United States%u2014save for all of the illegal alien enlistees?

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq, we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. They arrive with few, if any, of their personal possessions. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq, we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. They arrive with few, if any, of their personal possessions. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq, we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. They arrive with few, if any, of their personal possessions. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq, we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. They arrive with few, if any, of their personal possessions. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals around the Country.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive in the United States for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals around the Country.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive in the United States for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq %u2013 many times more bitterly than intellectually %u2013 we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals around the Country.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive in the United States for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[oifoefangels]

Support Our Wounded

While Americans debate the War in Iraq %u2013 many times more bitterly than intellectually %u2013 we have forgotten our wounded men and women who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals around the Country.
Every week plane loads of seriously wounded military arrive in the United States for medical treatment and recovery %u2013 often staying over a year in a hospital. Many are amputees who make the hospital their home-away-from-home while learning to move forward with their lives with the aid of outstanding medical, physical therapy and occupational therapy staffs.
In 2003, the Angels of Mercy Program was founded to help these wounded men and women and their families. In 2004, Newman%u2019s-Own named the Angels the best volunteer program in American supporting our military. The Program provides clothing suitable for rehabilitation, comfort items, and a broad range of support for young family members who have uprooted their lives to be with their loved ones at the hospital. We need help to keep this non-political, all volunteer program going. Our total effort is on helping those who have given so much, and letting them know their Country cares about their sacrifices.
The web site www.SupportOurWounded.org contains many background details, and suggests ways Americans can help. The Angels of Mercy Program can also be reached by phone: [phone]. Our wounded need your help.

[michellem99-2009]

He raised his right paw and went in combat for this nation. They demand the money back. That is cold and greedy. He is a vet .

[watcher269-2009]

Yes! Make the Soldiers Pay for the War!

[bareemperor]

All candidates who ignore the Bu$h dictatorship are liars.
The general public is now aware of the Republicon coup.
Let''s discuss it openly, or is everyone already too afraid?

[ssm9451]

UNBELIEVABLE!!! Anyone who has been in Iraq and have become disabled and receives such a bill/letter, needs to mail it back and tell whom ever sent it, to take it and wipe their rear ends with it.
This is such an embarrassment.

[brickyone]

this reminds me of the monkey who got his hand caught in the hollowed out coconut while he was trying to steal rice out of it, if he kept his hand full of rice his hand wouldn''t come out, if he opened it to get out he got no rice soooooooooo the "government" has a choice to make, make good on their commitments or re-instate the draft to get bodies as now the young men + women know the facts regarding the "backdoor" contract operations of our pentagon.
Hummmmmmm, do the voters in Iowa know that a vote of Obama is a vote for Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and the original "dime a dance" Oprah???

[taotxzen]

(cont)

The records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both overwhelmingly Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer. The numbers fell sharply in October to no more than 40, partly as a result of the Sinjar raid, the American officials say.

Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed on the records by far %u2014 305, or 41 percent %u2014 American intelligence officers found as they combed through documents and computers in the weeks after the raid. The data show that despite increased efforts by Saudi Arabia to clamp down on would-be terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, some Saudi fighters are still getting through.

[kevzgrl]

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on the DofD (hah!) and a sick-azzed government that would do this kind of thing to one of our bravest citizens who was serving his country in a place they should never have sent him to in the first place!! The idiots who perpetuated this "mistake" ought to be punished - to this brave young man I say "Jordan, you are a true HERO. Don''t let these Bas-tards get you down. THank you for your sacrifice for our country, and God bless and keep you."

[taotxzen]

(cont)

The records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both overwhelmingly Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer. The numbers fell sharply in October to no more than 40, partly as a result of the Sinjar raid, the American officials say.

Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed on the records by far %u2014 305, or 41 percent %u2014 American intelligence officers found as they combed through documents and computers in the weeks after the raid. The data show that despite increased efforts by Saudi Arabia to clamp down on would-be terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, some Saudi fighters are still getting through.

[taotxzen]

(cont)

The records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both overwhelmingly Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer. The numbers fell sharply in October to no more than 40, partly as a result of the Sinjar raid, the American officials say.

Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed on the records by far %u2014 305, or 41 percent %u2014 American intelligence officers found as they combed through documents and computers in the weeks after the raid. The data show that despite increased efforts by Saudi Arabia to clamp down on would-be terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, some Saudi fighters are still getting through.

[kevzgrl]

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on the DofD (hah!) and a sick-azzed government that would do this kind of thing to one of our bravest citizens who was serving his country in a place they should never have sent him to in the first place!! The idiots who perpetuated this "mistake" ought to be punished - to this brave young man I say "Jordan, you are a true HERO. Don''t let these Bas-tards get you down. THank you for your sacrifice for our country, and God bless and keep you."