Sick, wounded U.S. troops held in squalor

UPI ^ | Oct. 17, 2003 | MARK BENJAMIN

[MineralMan]

If true, then this is a terrible way to treat those who have gone in harm's way. An immediate investigation should be done by the Inspector General's office, and the families of these soldiers should be contacting their legislators.

Some here will say this is not happening, but I'm not so sure. Given the lousy system that exists in the VA for veterans, it wouldn't surprise me if this story is accurate.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Hundreds of sick and wounded U.S. soldiers including many who served in the Iraq war are languishing in hot cement barracks here while they wait -- sometimes for months -- to see doctors."

This writer is making it sound worse than the Civil War. Heck, Valley Forge was better than that. LOL! Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm so convinced. I'm just all tears, all choked up. I'll register as a rat today. Yep. I'm finished as a conservative now, er... neo-con? Whatever.

[GailA]

btt

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

It's Valley Forge, man. It's like, Colonial era medical. That evil Bush. Let's FReep him!

[MineralMan]

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm so convinced. I'm just all tears, all choked up.
"

Have you been there? Can you refute this story directly? I'm sorry, but the military has not always done right by our fighting men. Having served and having seen just how messed up things can be, depending on the base and the commander, I want more information here. When did you serve?

[american spirit]

Are you f'in kidding me? The feds bend over backwards to see to that illegals get all sorts of medical benefits and our own soldiers get treated like this? God help the limp wristed #$&*% bureaucrats that treat our hero's like this.

[Prodigal Son]

This article is very loaded for slant. Cinder block buildings without latrines? Standard military accommodation. Communal showers? Standard military amenity. Having to move about on a "crutches only" profile? Standard military procedure. I've had to do this myself. Ripped out both anterior cruciate ligaments at the same time. Still had to show up for formation at 0630 hours, although I could not walk. Still bathed in a communal shower and peed in in a communal toilet. And you know what? Latrines smell like urine because that's where soldiers go to leave their urine.

The one soldier quoted in this article says he had experienced "side pain" and has just managed to get a 20% for... Knee problems.

The one who wrote this article is fishing- pure and simple.

[Prodigal Son]

LOL.

[niteowl77]

I find it interesting how many citizen soldiers are suddenly front and center in the media. Even more interesting is the media's sudden concern for reserves and the guard.

I'm glad to see that the press cares.

Yes. Really glad.

Did I mention that I found the press' new fascination for the military interesting?

[Rodney King]

The problem here is that we offer our vets Hillary care. What the army should simply do is buy every soldier and vet entitled to care an HMO plan.

[MineralMan]

"Cinder block buildings without latrines? Standard military accommodation"

Not at any US base where I was stationed. Every barracks had latrines indoors. What bases were you at that didn't? When?

[pfflier]

Remember the drawdown initiated about 10 years ago? Here's payback.

[Prodigal Son]

that treat our hero's like this.

This is how I was treated in the military. Was normal. If I didn't want the latrine to stink it was time to whoop out the disinfectant and scrub brush.

[RicocheT]

True or not, I hope someone in Don Rumsfeld's office is put on a jet and sent down there to check it out and personally report back to the Secretary of Defense.

We can't allow our military personnel to be poorly treated no matter where they serve or what physical condition they are in. They are all doing a tough job at our request and out of love of country. We owe them big time.

[DeepDish]

"Another Army Reservist with the 149th Infantry Battalion said he has had real trouble seeing doctors about his crushed foot he suffered in Iraq."

This is NOT a pre-existing condition, I would like to know why this soldier
is not being treated by a surgeon. Grrrrrrrr

[First_Salute]

It's a strange situation.

My neighbors, the husband, is stuck in that hold.

The government refuses to release him. There is no explanation other than all manner of gobbledygook, meaning "wait ... " in effect.

The wife is home, next door, and frankly, suffering something herself.

The've seen each other maybe three times since he was sent back with an unknown ailment from Iraq.

I thought that she'd either gotten mono or a mild case of the blues because of the distance between them.

I've seen him twice, and he looks OK, but the government is acting without an distinguishable signs of affirmative direction in the matter.

Perhaps there is some extra caution being practiced, so that some bacteriological warfare possiblities do not seep back through into the country.

His only symptoms were pneumonia-like, but he's well past that since, maybe six weeks now.

Enforced limbo; no explanation, really.

[MineralMan]

"This is how I was treated in the military. Was normal. If I didn't want the latrine to stink it was time to whoop out the disinfectant and scrub brush.
"

Yes, yes. And how many miles did you walk through the snow to school. When did you serve and in what branch?

[Terabitten]

Cinder block buildings without latrines? Standard military accommodation. Communal showers? Standard military amenity.

These were standard military amenities - in the 1950s and 1960s. This is no longer the Army standard in housing single soldiers. The rest of the Army uses dormitory-style barracks once you get out of basic training.

I'm in the Georgia National Guard, and my mobilization station is Ft. Stewart. We train there at least three times a year, not including Annual Training. I lived in these same barracks for three months (December 00-February 01) during my unit's train-up to go to Bosnia.

The conditions in these barracks are deplorable. One entire company in my battalion contracted scabies due to the unsanitary conditions. Those barracks in the National Guard Training Center at Ft. Stewart are an insult to our soldiers.

But then again, I'm just a dumb-@$$ grunt -- what do I know?

[camas]

this is not the case for vets in washington state so i find it hard to believe.