U.S. Military Demands Bonus Money Back from Soldiers with Arms, Legs Blown Off
by David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) In some cases, the U.S. military has been denying wounded soldiers the full amount of their enlistment bonuses, under the rationale that the soldiers are unable to fulfill the full term of their service contract.

The policy came to light after Jordan Fox, who was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq and sent home three months early, received a letter asking him to repay $2,800 of his signing bonus. Fox had been hospitalized for several months, and still has an injured back and a blind right eye.

"I was just completely shocked," Fox said. "I couldn't believe I'd gotten a bill in the mail from the Army."

Upon signing up for military service, troops may receive up to $30,000 in signing bonuses. These bonuses are contingent upon fulfilling a specified term of service.

But according to CBS affiliate KDKA in Pittsburgh, the military has asked "thousands" of injured troops to return part of their bonuses.

5 Years Too Many Tallahassee Iraq War 5th Anniversary observation

To commemorate the beginning of the sixth year of the illegal, immoral, and unjust war of aggression against the people of Iraq, local political activists and citizens of all stripes gathered at Lake Ella in Tallahassee on Wednesday March 19th as evening fell.


The names names of Florida's war dead were read to the tolling of a large Buddhist bell echoing through the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Ella.




Groups represented included TNJP, Tallahasseans Who think Its Time To Come Home, Vets for Peace, Vietnam Vets Against War, CodePINK, MoveOn.org and regular citizens including at least two active-duty members of the military.

Turnout was lower than expected due to a driving rainstorm. Still, approximately one hundred turned out to raise voice and witness to the disastrous (pick your adjective) misadventure in Iraq.

See the full photo album on Picassa

More below the fold...

Deceased Marine’s Gravesite Vandalized Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-11-17

Walpole, Massachusetts – In a Boston suburb, vandals defaced the gravestone of a 20-year-old Marine who lost his life to a sniper’s bullet while on his second tour of duty on Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Corporal Alexander Scott Arredondo, USMC was laid to rest on September 4, 2004 in Rural Cemetery located in Walpole, Massachusetts, and the site of a family-owned plot. “The vandalism took place sometime prior to September 28th“, according to Carlos Arredondo, Alex’s father who last visited the gravesite days before...

In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans
NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2007(CBS) They are the casualties of wars you don’t often hear about - soldiers who die of self-inflicted wounds. Little is known about the true scope of suicides among those who have served in the military.

Please support Iraq Veterans Against the War and their public investigation of the atrocities occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan. The following statement contains a brief explanation of what IVAW is doing and a statement of support that you can sign by clicking on the link to IVAW's web page.

This statement will be the basis for a national advertisement and will help us generate attention and funds for this project.

They saw it for themselves, now --with your support-- they'll tell it for themselves.

Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.

Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth...

18 Veterans Arrested in Antiwar Protest
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2007-11-12 20:30
By Tania deLuzuriaga and Charles M. Sennott, Boston Globe
More than a dozen members of an antiwar veterans group were arrested yesterday as they protested the exclusion of their message from Boston’s Veterans Day parade.1112 03Members of Veterans for Peace lined up in front of a podium at City Hall Plaza holding antiwar placards, as color guards from Massachusetts military units and JROTC bands from across the state filed into Government Center for a ceremony, sponsored by the American Legion, to honor veterans after the parade. Some protesters wore gags, which they later said symbolized the fact that, while they were permitted to march in the parade, they were prevented from carrying signs opposing the war in Iraq.

...

We had our Veterans Day die-in protest today at 11am (11-11-11). It was a powerful experience with 16 people "dying" 10 minutes at a time... 2 different locations on busy touristy St. George St. In St. Augustine, FL). We had some wonderful support and encouragement but way too much of an angry response. Still, people were yelling.."We got rid of Saddam"," We are fighting for freedom" and a cop overheard calling us "idiots".

However, I know we made an impact, we made people uncomfortable and reminded them that people actually do die in a war. Here are pictures on Webshot and also here is an article written for our Independent paper, The Collective Press.
Enjoy...
Marilyn/PPJ/St. Augustine (memeber of www.solidarityandpeace.org)

Why, Mommy?
By Mary Lawrence
Why indeed. I died on Veterans Day 11/11/07 at 11 a.m in St Augustine as one of 3860 US soldiers, 141 journalists and 1,100,000 Iraqis. Lying on the hard ground, seeing nothing and hearing footsteps and muffled conversations, throughout it all, one child's plaintive voice broke through: "Why, Mommy?"

"Because they're tired, honey."...

This brings back memories of the Tallahassee Veterans Parade circa 2003 (see story below), when local anti-war veteran Tom Baxter and 30 others were kicked out of the Tallahassee parade...

Veterans and Military Families Barred From Marching in Veterans Day Parade

The L.A. chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War was recently denied permission to march in the Long Beach Veterans Day Parade on the grounds that they do not "represent the spirit of the parade." On November 7 members of IVAW, Veterans For Peace and Military Families Speak Out (whose local contingents were also denied permission to march) spoke before a meeting of the Long Beach City Council and asked the Council to overturn the Parade Committee's decision to ban them from the march. The Council denied their request...

'I Don't Think This Place Is Worth Another Soldier's Life' - After 14 months in a Baghdad district torn by mounting sectarian violence, members of one U.S. unit are tired, bitter and skeptical.
By Joshua Partlow Saturday, October 27, 2007; A01
BAGHDAD, Oct. 26 Their line of tan Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles creeps through another Baghdad afternoon. At this pace, an excruciating slowness, they strain to see everything, hoping the next manhole cover, the next rusted barrel, does not hide another bomb. A few bullets pass overhead, but they don't worry much about those.

"I hate this road," someone says over the radio.

They stop, look around. The streets of Sadiyah are deserted again. To the right, power lines slump down into the dirt. To the left, what was a soccer field is now a pasture of trash, combusting and smoking in the sun. Packs of skinny wild dogs trot past walls painted with slogans of sectarian hate.

A bomb crater blocks one lane, so they cross to the other side, where houses are blackened by fire, shops crumbled into bricks. The remains of a car bomb serve as hideous public art. Sgt. Victor Alarcon's Humvee rolls into a vast pool of knee-high brown sewage water -- the soldiers call it Lake Havasu, after the Arizona spring-break party spot -- that seeps in the doors of the vehicle and wets his boots.

"When we first got here, all the shops were open. There were women and children walking out on the street," Alarcon said this week. "The women were in Western clothing. It was our favorite street to go down because of all the hot chicks."

That was 14 long months ago, when the soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, arrived in southwestern Baghdad. It was before their partners in the Iraqi National Police became their enemies and before Shiite militiamen, aligned with the police, attempted to exterminate a neighborhood of middle-class Sunni families...

Josh Gaines is an Iraq War Veteran. He returned his Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and National Defense Service Medal to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Josh's medals were mailed to Mr. Rumsfeld care of Stanford University...

On September 15th 2007 the Iraq Veterans Against the War led a 100,000 strong march of anti-war protestors from the White House to the Capitol building. They were supported by the Veterans for Peace. Along the way the marchers were harrassed by a pro-war gathering.

See Video - www.tnjp.org/node/203
Police break up anti-war meeting in Washington
Thu Sep 6, 5:35 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Mounted police charged in to break up an outdoor press conference and demonstration against the Iraq war in Washington on Thursday, arresting three people, organizers and an AFP reporter said.

Iraq War Veteran Evan Knappenberger Sounds Alarm on Back Door Draft

Tower Guard Vigil
Iraq Veteran Evan Knappenberger’s Efforts to End Stop-Loss and IRR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2007

CONTACT:

Marie Marchand, Executive Director
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
(360) 734-0217 (office); (360) 920-4817 (cell)
Email: WhatcomPJC@fidalgo.net

VET’S WEBSITE: www.TowerGuard.org

Iraq War Veteran Evan Knappenberger, 1st BDE, 4th Infantry Division, erected his 6 ft. scaffold on the Mall in Washington, DC this morning as part of a weeklong 24hr/day Tower Guard vigil. Knappenberger is drawing attention to the US military’s STOP-LOSS and INACTIVE RESERVE policies, which he submits are being used as a substitute for conscription in a political war. The vigil will run through Saturday, September 1st...