Posted on 10/03/2004 8:51:06 PM PDT by ItsJeff
CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — The 2nd Brigade soldier who created www.beerforsoldiers.com, a Web site that lets people buy a beer online for a U.S. soldier, has been ordered to stop running his site.
Sgt. Dale Rogers, in Iraq with Company C, 1st Battalion (air assault), 503rd Infantry Regiment, posted a notice on the site last week informing readers that he is turning it over to his brother.
A spokesman for the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which includes 1-503, said in an e-mail that lawyers from the unit rendered a legal opinion that the Web site violated the Joint Ethics Regulation.
“The soldier seems to be using his association with the Army as a way to solicit funds for beer. Whatever his intentions, and I’m sure they are genuine and pure, (the Web site is) … illegal. I noted … however, that the site is still up and running. I am confident it will be shut down soon,” the spokesman said.
Last week Rogers posted a defiant message on the Web site in response to the order.
“I won’t back down! Stand me up at the gates of hell and I won’t back down,” the message said, quoting a Tom Petty song.
“I am currently serving somewhere outside of Fallujah, Iraq. My Web site is going through a change; I am turning over this Web site to my brother due to legal pukes who say a soldier cannot solicit beer donations to increase the morale of his fellow soldiers. What a crock! But I am a soldier and I have to comply,” Rogers wrote.
By Sunday night beerforsoldiers. com had adopted the slogan “The Web site where you cannot buy us a beer.”
Rogers set up the site in February before joining 1-503 in South Korea, where the unit was based before deploying to Iraq last month.
Beerforsoldiers.com used to let donors click on links that charged their credit cards for anything from $2 for a 40-oz. bottle of beer to $6 for a “tall beer from the bar,” to $7 for a six-pack. Other donation options included $10 for a “pitcher” or $20 for a “keg club.”
The site includes dozens of photographs of soldiers enjoying the beer.
In South Korea, Rogers spent money collected from the Web site buying drinks for soldiers at local bars. He had intended to save money generated by the site while he is in Iraq, where soldiers are not allowed to drink alcohol, for drinks during a midtour leave in Qatar and a homecoming party for soldiers at the end of his one-year tour, he said.
Now, clicking on the “Don’t buy us beer” link at beerforsoldiers.com takes you to a page with the word “violation” displayed six times, an invitation to the and the message: “We would still love for you to buy us a beer but the legal folks say you can’t.”
Donations rose sharply after Stars and Stripes ran a story about the site in September, he said.
An e-mail from Rogers stated he was ordered to “cease and desist” running the site at the behest of the Army’s lawyers.
However, Ron Buchholz, a civilian attorney for the Department of the Army, Judge Advocate General, Standards of Conduct Branch in Washington, said he merely sent Rogers’ command an e-mail stating that the site raised legal and ethical issues.
Buchholz said he has no authority to issue orders to soldiers but acknowledged that an order from Rogers’ command may have been a response to his e-mail.
Federal regulations make it illegal for federal employees, including soldiers, to solicit or receive gifts. But numerous complicated exceptions to those rules mean legal opinions often are sought when people want to give soldiers presents, Buchholz said.
The shaven-headed infantryman does not appear happy about the Army’s ban on beer donations.
“You’d think that a soldier risking his life in a war zone, usually under enemy attacks almost daily, could at least have the right to maintain a morale builder for his fellow brothers, such as this Web site,” Rogers said.
Camp Red Cloud, back gate at Camp Casey, on the other side, that used to be a dirt road to that camp back a few years ago.Like Texas, a whole nother country!
I think that probably, in the aggregate, it's a good idea to have rules forbidding soldiers from encouraging the public to give them presents. It sets a bad precedent, because in that direction lies the age-old practice of the army becoming willing to sell themselves to civilian factions.
On the other hand, the obvious thing to do would be for a private civilian charity to organize for the purpose of raising money to buy soldiers drinks. It just can't be run by a soldier himself.
Well, be that way!
Whiskey for the men, beer for the horses.
Happy now?
I am curious. Let's say I go to the website and buy a beer for a soldier. How does he get that beer? You can't mail liquids through the APO, and I doubt there are bars in Iraq that are working this deal. I am also assuming the military either provides been to the troops in a controlled manner or prohibits it altogether. This doesn't make sense.
Except for that horse part, you bet!
Scam
yeah, sounded tht way to me, too.
Agreed...except I wouldn't let the Red Cross near it. Back in WWII, they used to get tons of donations for the troops, including to buy coffee, donuts, etc. They'd turn around and sell the food to the troops. Goods paid for by donations, troops pay for goods = 100% profit (tax-free for a nonprofit).
Moral of the story is that some charities screw servicemen while pretending to do good. The high salaries paid to the execs of these nonprofits are a red flag.
Salvation Army has some of the lowest overhead, i.e. a high percentage of what it receives goes to intended recipients. Unfortunately, the religious aspect of SA would prevent it from running the beer charity.
LOL!! Never been in the military, have you?
So, it was illegal for my Grand-Son to receive the packages (gifts) I sent him when he was in IRAQ? (US Army - 2003)
Yes / No ?
Buddy B
Yes. Please report directly to the stockade : )
I think the key word there is "solicit".
I agree. I like the idea and the site but it does have ethical problems.
Yes, I have. In Vietnam it was available at certain times and certain places, which was my point.
I Like Beer
Tom T. Hall
In some of my songs
I have casually mentioned
The fact that I like to drink beer
This little song is more to the point
Roll out the barrel
And lend me your ears
Chorus:
I like beer.
It makes me a jolly good fellow
I like beer.
It helps me unwind
And sometimes it makes me feel mellow.
(Makes him feel mellow)
Whiskey's too rough,
Champagne costs too much,
Vodka puts my mouth in gear
This little refrain
Should help me explain
As a matter of fact I like beer
(He likes beer).
2. My wife often frowns
When we're out on the town
And I'm wearing a suit and a tie
She's sipping vermouth
And she thinks I'm uncouth
When I yell as the waiter goes by
Chorus:
. Last night I dreamed
That I passed from the scene
And I went to a place so sublime
Aw, the water was clear
And tasted like beer
Then they turned it all into wine (awww)
Chorus:
I like beer.
It makes me a jolly good fellow
I like beer.
It helps me unwind
And sometimes it makes me feel mellow
(Makes him feel mellow)
Whiskey's too rough,
Champagne costs too much,
And vodka puts my mouth in gear
Aw, this little refrain
Should help me explain
As a matter of fact I love beer
(Yes, he likes beer).
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