Is This How The Bush Defense Department Supports The Troops?

This is outrageous to say the least. From The Charleston Gazette we learn that "Support Our Troops" means just three words for a bumper sticker as far as the Bush Administration is concerned. The last time 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood. A field medic tied a tourniquet around Rebrook’s right arm to stanch the bleeding from shrapnel wounds. Soldiers yanked off his blood-soaked body armor. He never saw it again. But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago. So much for compassionate conservatism. This is the thanks a true military veteran gets from a Commander-in-Chief who couldn't even manage to show up for his National Guard service for a year or more and had his daddy's money to cover-up the evidence of his "AWOL" status. This is what he gets from a Vice President who received five student and marriage deferments of military service during the Vietnam War. He was leaving the Army for good because of his injuries. He turned in his gear at his base in Fort Hood, Texas. He was informed there was no record that the body armor had been stripped from him in battle. He was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks, perhaps months. I suppose they probably think he was one of the fortunate one's since many of the men and women serving their country either don't have any body armor or what they do have is more than below standard for protection. Here is yet another link regarding the inadequate protection of the body armor. Strange though that live links appear to be scrubbed and only available in the Google cache. The treatment of Lt. Rebrook is disgraceful, but then again how can we expect anything different from an administration that had no exit strategy whatsoever when they embarked upon an illegal invasion and occupation of a country that was no immediate threat, instead of staying on track and going after Bin Laden who was supposedly the planner of the attack of 9-11. More on the story of Lt. Rebrook is available here. Read it and weep, not only for this and other service men and women but also for the U.S. that is being slowly but surely changed into an empire for George to play king. After you read and think about the story of Lt. Rebrook, take a look at just who among the leaders of such a beloved country served in the military to preserve the rights and privledges the Boy King is so anxious to discard like so much trash.