Posted on 02/17/2007 8:05:58 PM PST by bnelson44
Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.
This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss. But the old lodge, just outside the gates of the hospital and five miles up the road from the White House, has housed hundreds of maimed soldiers recuperating from injuries suffered in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 1/2 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution into something else entirely -- a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients. Almost 700 of them -- the majority soldiers, with some Marines -- have been released from hospital beds but still need treatment or are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Sure, no doubt. The point is, though, that if you go to any old government facility and look hard enough you will find stuff just like this.
Anyone who has ever moved into new quarters enough times knows that.
I agree...it is a hit piece.
And it's too bad that the civilians will believe this drivel.
Yeah. Like a snake that isn't quite dead, the MSM still has the capability to cause a lot of damage.
After all, it IS the Washington Post's Dana Priest.
Anyone who knows, understands this is not the truth. Walter Reed is a great hospital at what it does, treating the types of traumatic injuries suffered in a war, and does that well. It is no shining star, most hospitals are not if one digs deep enough.
But I do know one thing...it is a shining star when it comes to the people who staff it and the people who pass through it.
I'm not familiar with Dana Priest, but all I had to know was that this article came from the WP. I just wish that people could see this for what it is.
BTW, wait until you see the next thing that the Dems have thought up. It is called HR 508, Bring the Troops Home/Iraqi Sovereignty/Veteran Benefits act, authored by Rep. Woolsey D-CA. It is a binding resolution, unlike the one that they just floated. I don't know the exact title but it is horrid on so many levels, especially since they tacted on Veterans medical treatment. Using the vets as pawns once again. ICK!
Great quote!
Using the vets as pawns. There is nothing they will not stoop to.
Nothing.
Agreed. They invented "low". But when this thing comes up, everyone has to let them know that we won't stand for it. I called the 11 traitorous Representatives on Friday. If I would have know about the others, they would have been included. No more silent majority!
note to self...I want to read this in the morning, when I am awake... good night, self :)
Because you can have idiots in charge who will say we always do it that way.
Its always fun to see how the top NCO wants to handle unit and pt formations at brigade and higher level units where there are tons of officers.
If they put the officers in formation, you have officers taking orders from an NCO. If have the officers in the back, how do they form up when the Commander takes over to talk to the troops.
I had that happen to me when I was in Hawaii.
For those not in the military, here is a standard and then what happened to me. If you are stationed overseas and marry a local civilian, you add another year to your overseas tour. This is to offset the cost of the new spouse to the next assignment which would normally be back in the states.
I was in Hawaii and married my fiancee, another officer and we had twin girls. I was going to finish my tour early and was being shipped back to the states. The army would pay for me and my twins but not my wife. Why, Hawaii is considered overseas for the military and they wanted me to do another year. I said my wife is an American and when did this change occur. The clerk told me the change occured last week and my company commander is aware of the change. I said, "I am the company commander and no one told me." I had to file an IG complaint. I was embarassed to have to tell my Battalion Commander I was filing an IG complaint. It all worked out but it can be a maze.
MED HOLD has always been a big headache for soldiers. The soldiers know they are leaving the military, make plans such as college or jobs and the medical process can take so long, the soldiers plans are messed up.
I have been in Building 18 several times over the past year to visit soldiers or to drop off donations. I went into the basement to use the toilet, and upstairs to see a soldier in his room. Everyone who knows me well knows I am a very particular person. I did not see nor smell any mold, vermin or stale carry-out odors.
Could somebody in the area please go and check on these guys, I have a couple of concerns.
First the casualties are PTSD and assorted mental and psychological cases as well as some head trauma.
The nutjobs tend to get shunted into the shittiest billets.
Secondly the VA is under pressure financially so maybe there is a grain of truth in the story.
Would it hurt to check them out to see if they are OK? Go there and have a good dig round.
TIA
My first thought.
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