Free Republic

Some military retirees are hopping mad at the Bush Administration. Hard to believe for a President with high approval ratings for his military actions, but true.Their beef? The Administration supports the policy that now deducts a retiree's disability benefits from his retirement pay (don't call it a "pension," or you'll hear from the veterans.) Many combat vets think the deduction policy is unfair and penalizes them. They maintain that they've earned their retirement pay, and the disability benefits should have nothing to do with that. E-mails are flying among former service members and are being forwarded to Congress, which already...

May 26, 2002 Disabled Veterans Lobby for Full Retirement Pay By THE NEW YORK TIMES WASHINGTON - On Oct. 8, 1967, when John Lawton began moving through the fog and rain of Vietnam to reach a group of fellow American soldiers ambushed in a rice field, his retirement pension could not have been farther from his mind. But much of that pension vanished that day, the moment bullets ripped into his chest, leg and arm. To help disabled veterans like Mr. Lawton live with their wounds, the government gives them a monthly check, called disability pay. But because of a...