Becuase Everything Else Sucks

Education Benefits Denied to Soldiers Who Served Longest Tour of Duty

By Manila Ryce
Published Sunday, October 7th, 2007, 6:12 pm
Filed under: Society/Culture: Education, World: Asia, Economic, War, Society/Culture, World Issues, US Politics

First Lieutenant Jon Anderson and 1,161 of his fellow Minnesota National Guard members served in Iraq for 22 months, longer than any other ground combat unit, only to be ungratefully screwed over once they return home. Anderson and his fellow guard members’ orders were written for 729 days by the Pentagon, exactly one day short of the 730 days required to earn the education benefits promised under the GI bill.

Had they been written for just one additional day, the soldiers would be earning an extra $500 to $800 a month. “It’s pretty much a slap in the face,” said Anderson, who had hoped to have the money to pay for a master’s degree in public administration. “I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership… once again failing the soldiers.” Anderson says he promised to take care of the soldiers under his command, and will not stop doing so “until this is solved”.

John Hobot is Anderson’s fellow platoon leader, who needed the money for a degree in law enforcement. “I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home,” Hobot said. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Norm Coleman, and six of Minnesota’s members of the House have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into the incident. The Army has not yet commented.

source

Related Posts

3 Responses to “Education Benefits Denied to Soldiers Who Served Longest Tour of Duty”

  1. I serve in the navy. Not the most televise branch of the military. Six years of active duty in the gulf means nothing to the state of Maryland. Since I didn’t serve within 5 nautical miles of land, not an option for a nuclear aircraft carrier, we are always at least 50 nautical miles, I don’t get any extra educational benefits from the state of Maryland. I may have well never serve at all according to those fucks. Sorry I don’t mean to sound bitter, but after 6 years of operating a nuclear reactor for the military, I don’t think I should have to get a job at McDoanalds to pay for college. I guess I’m an asshole for thinking like that.

    diablo
    10/7/07 at 11:13 pm

  2. If the American military had a conscience they would have already revolted against BushCo and his NWO.

    Instead, I find, it’s as complicit in what is happening to its veterans as the cretins in the, lying, corrupt, torturous corporatocracy running the government.

    Vidaloon
    10/8/07 at 11:03 am

  3. So your suggesting that the military interfere with the operation and the decision making of an, arguably, democratically elected government? Yeah it sucks to get sent to an unpopular war front but there are a lot of countries whose military ignores and acts on its own, Pakistan, Turkey, Burma… I wouldn’t exactly look to them as an alternative to our current government. I’m not saying there isn’t room for improvement, but encouraging military members to revolt, that is a recipe for chaos and repression.

    diablo
    10/9/07 at 8:19 am

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.