POW's disability pay angers father - Jesse Jackson: race played a part in Army's decision

Associated Press ^ | October 25, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

POW's disability pay angers father

08:47 PM CDT on Friday, October 24, 2003

Associated Press

EL PASO – The father of former POW Shoshana Johnson on Friday said the Army is treating her unfairly because a medical board offered her a smaller disability paycheck than fellow POW Jessica Lynch.

Claude Johnson, who lives in El Paso, said the financial support Pfc. Lynch is getting should be provided equally to all soldiers injured in the line of duty.

"She is not getting what she deserves," he said.

Family members confirmed that Pfc. Lynch, snatched from her Iraqi captors April 1, is receiving an 80 percent disability. Spc. Johnson, released April 13 with four other American POWs, has been offered 30 percent, Mr. Johnson said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who consulted the Johnson family, said he believes race played a part in the Army's decision. Pfc. Lynch is white; Spc. Johnson is black.

"There's a long history of blacks not receiving fair and adequate recognition in the military for services rendered," said Mr. Jackson, who was in Dallas on Friday. "The first black female POW who survived is about to be discharged and suffers the trauma, the emotional injury and has a 3-year-old daughter to raise. She deserves more."

Maj. Steve Stover, an Army spokesman, said Spc. Johnson's payment, which Mr. Jackson said is about $600 a month, can be appealed.

Maj. Stover said the cases are different and race is not an issue.

He said Pfc. Lynch is on the Temporary Disability Retired List – which has a 5-year limit – and has not been discharged. She will be re-evaluated periodically, and if recovered sufficiently, she could go on active duty or request a discharge.

Spc. Johnson, meanwhile, will be discharged soon and is going through the process to determine the disability payments she will receive as a veteran.

If Pfc. Lynch seeks a discharge, Maj. Stover said, she would have to go through the process Spc. Johnson is going through now.

Military officials said Pfc. Lynch suffered multiple broken bones and other injuries after her vehicle was hit, and it was four months before she could walk again. Spc. Johnson was shot in both ankles and was held by Iraqis for 22 days. She periodically uses a walking cast, has a hard time staying on her feet and isn't sleeping well, her father said.

Mr. Johnson said Pfc. Lynch and his daughter are friends.

In a statement released Friday by her attorney, Stephen Goodwin in Charleston, W.Va., Pfc. Lynch said she was "disappointed for Shoshana."

"When she visited me in West Virginia last month, we discussed the extent of our injuries and the long road back to health," Pfc. Lynch said. "I support her efforts 100 percent and wish her a continued ... recovery."

Associated Press reporter Penny Cockerell in Dallas contributed to this report.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/102503dntexpows.61c8a.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Old Jesse seems to be getting in Texas news just here lately ...

10-14-2003
Governor signs redistricting bill -
'RATS expected to take dispute over minority issues to court

The Rev. Jesse Jackson called the redistricting an affront to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

"We must be prepared to go back to mass demonstration to diminish the effects of this," he said.

[TommyDale]

Geez...does thi$ guy never $hut up? No matter what the $ubject, Je$$e Jack$on alway$ ha$ to throw in the race i$$ue. We all know what it'$ really about, don't we?!!

[mylife]

She deserves full disability

[TommyDale]

I wonder how much the young lady will pay Je$$e in commi$$ion$, after the government increa$e$ her pay.

[Held_to_Ransom]

If Condi put the effort into keeping Americans of African heritage out of the army that she does with colleges, the army would suffer extravagantly.

[cajun-jack]

she won't have to pay hime, he won't have to pay her...all she has to do is have a coupla kids for him.

[Spyder]

She deserves full disability

Disability doesn't work on the merit system. I agree she "deserves" it, but disability doesn't work that way. There are too many who have abused it over the years. There are very specific guidelines laid out as to what injuries cause what percentage of disability.

[in the Arena]

Spc. Johnson should appeal her disability compensation on her own. She and her family are being exploited by Jackson and his racist policies to the detriment of all military personel.

[txzman]

I'm all for giving her the same disability - but first you have to break her back in three places and put her in rehab for a year.

[MeekOneGOP]

We all know what it'$ really about, don't we?!!

I think I do. It's usually THIS ! ...

[FollowingTheGrace]

She deserves full disability

Why??! As I recall she had only minor difficulty, due to ankle injury, walking to the transport plane after her rescue. Why would she not be completely recovered at this point? Why disability at all?

[halfdome]

At the very least, she was shot in both legs. She may have other injuries, too.

[FollowingTheGrace]

At the very least, she was shot in both legs. She may have other injuries, too.

But she walked to the plane after a couple of weeks of little or no treatment...I guess I have trouble believing she was that badly injured.

[per loin]

Whine, whine, whine...etc.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

"She deserves full disability"

Why? See the true movie account "Band Of Brothers" Some of those GI's were wounded very severely more than once and put right back into combat if they could walk.

She deserves no more, nor no less than others in her condition recieve.

[aynrandfreak]

Lynch probably got a better deal because her story was more compelling, not because she's white. If race played a role, then are the other people that got 30% all minorities too?

[PISANO]

THE ARMY doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the rating of disability compensation. It is the VA and the VA doctors ONLY that do this and they have SPECIFIC formulas that deliniate what percentage of disablity is granted based on the type of injuries/wounds. It is an OBJECTIVE method NOT subjective. JJ and the father of Spc. Johnson are making it a race issue and that is horrendous.

[Michael.SF.]

"The first black female POW who survived is about to be discharged and suffers the trauma, the emotional injury and has a 3-year-old daughter to raise. She deserves more."

Her having a daughter should have nothing to do with the amount of her disability payment. Apples and oranges

[Michael.SF.]

THE ARMY doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the rating of disability compensation

Unless it has changed from the '70's, the appeal board though is run by the respective branch of the service that the appealant is in (or is from).

An uncle of mine was the chairmen of such a board at Letterman Hospital from 1970-72 and saw far too many examples of low disability ratings and thus low payments.

He was a maverick, full bird and decorated Veteran of three wars and later said that was the hardest duty he had in his career.