The liberal media hates our soldiers! [Archive]

Yerdaddy

02-20-2007, 02:58 AM

Come on! You knew this would be the opposite.This weekend the Washington Post did a two-part piece on the conditions that wounded soldiers live under at Walter Reed Hospital. It's the kind of investigative journalism the Post does best and it seems to have served as a kind of locker inspection there. They got the army running around there fixing up everything mentioned in the articles and no doubt finding any other jelly doughnuts the Post might have missed. They've even started a criminal investigation of one of the douchebags who was apparently letting the place turn to shit while pimping for his own little private charity. Big ups to the Post for serving the wounded soldiers. We can't imagine their sacrifices we owe them for, but we also owe the Post a debt of gratitude for doing them a solid.THE ARTICLES: Part 1 - <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html" target="_blank">Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility</a>Part 2 - <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801335.html" target="_blank">The Hotel Aftermath</a>THE RESULTS:<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021900759.html?nav=hcmodule" target="_blank">Army Fixing Patients' Housing</a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021901113.html" target="_blank">Hospital Investigates Former Aid Chief</a>

A.J.

02-20-2007, 03:24 AM

Yerdaddy wrote: This weekend the Washington Post did a two-part piece on the conditions that wounded soldiers live under at Walter Reed Hospital. It's the kind of investigative journalism the Post does best Why did the Post waste time with stupid stories like these?  I mean, they should been investigating why Britney shaved her head!

Fezticle98

02-20-2007, 05:03 AM

I read the first of those articles yesterday. In a word: heartbreaking. I don't understand why the powers that be are trying to nickel and dime these people.

Fezticle98

02-20-2007, 05:38 PM

Wow. That second article was tough to read. I didn't realize that shit like that was going on. These people give life and limb and the military bureaucracy treats them like crap. The only thing that made me smile was that the soldier in the picture reminded me of an overweight Jimmy Norton.

hafast

02-20-2007, 05:58 PM

I'm glad I'm sitting in my shop tent alone right now.  Heartbreaking.  I'm one of the lucky ones, sitting in a safe place.  This disgusts me.  Bad enough to have to put up with the Hell of going to Iraq and getting blown up, but to have to go through this "back home"...  Unbelievable.  I know some of it is budgetary, and hospitals rank far below new tanks, planes, etc.  But come on.  It's too bad we couldn't get more docs to come in and help.  Unfortunately, military service doesn't attract the best from the med schools.  Not to slam on our docs, but hey, if your at the top of your class, where are you going to go work?  Beyond that, the military trying to weasel out of paying disabilities is beyond reprehensible.  I've always heard rumors of it, and wanted to believe it wasn't true.  I think it's time to make annual copies of my medical records.  I've got some serious thinking to do.

Jujubees2

02-21-2007, 06:50 AM

And now we've got our war-mongering vice president (who set a record for the number of deferments to Vietnam) visiting the troops.  But not in Iraq.  In Japan.  And he's telling them that the public is for the Iraq policy.   <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17257494/">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17257494/</a>

BLZBUBBA

02-21-2007, 06:58 AM

Somebody has been slashing the budgets for these hospitals lately.  Hmmm.  Who could that be?  The VFW budget being slashed lately?  Hmmmm.  And they open a state of the art clinic in San Antonio with private funds.  Imus raised almost 40% of the cost for it.  And how many out of the administration show up for it's dedication?  The budget slashing guy is expressing outrage?

high fly

02-21-2007, 01:30 PM

We've got to cut corners somewhere in order to finance that spaceship to Mars! Making it even worse is when we look at all the money going for defense. When the Deciderator came to office, the defense budget was about $300 billion.Now, with a force about the same size, the defense budget is well over $500 billion.And with all that extra dough, they still sent troops into combat without essential gear like body armor, goggles or proper boots. A recent Washington Post report said for the "Surge," we are over 4,000 vehicle up-armor kits short!Makes me long for the days of Herblock where he'd depict Weinburger with a toilet seat around his neck, and the toilet seat had a $600 price tag on it...

scottinnj

02-23-2007, 07:30 PM

Budget shortages and equipment shortages have been a staple of the American Military since day 1, so I don't get surprised or angry about body armor or stuff like that.  "Adapt, Improvise and Overcome" is the second law of the Army soldier.  (the first one is my favorite: 1. Never stand when you can sit.  2.  Never sit when you can lay down.  3.  If you lay down, goto sleep.)But this article and the new media about the "crown jewel" of the military medical system is shocking to me, and appalling.  How many Presidents, Senators and Congressman/woman in the past 20 years has told us they "support our troops" and Walter Reed now looks like this?  Fuck them all.  Especially this President because he's been to Walter Reed so many times for photo ops, passing out medals, you would think he would do a quick inspection of the place to at least cover his ass, because the press that takes the pictures of him with the troops, also takes the pictures of the mold, broken tiles and of the amputee soldiers trying to get around the facility trying to get papers stamped by beauracrats that should be doing the walking.FUCK THEM ALL!!!

BLZBUBBA

02-23-2007, 07:52 PM

Ooops!  That's the VA budget that's getting slashed not the VFW.  Maybe the VFW is slashing theirs as well.  My bad.  But same deal.  The vets are dealing with cuts.  Hospitals closing as well...not just filth,  rodents,  mold,  and the like.  Sure.  They're still getting healthcare but now they may have to travel hundreds of miles to get it.  I guess people are content to slap bumperstickers on their cars and be content but they really should write their representatives and senators and raise hell about this kinda crap.  Iraq is odd in that their are a lot more hideous injuries to deal with (relatively) because of the survival rate being better.  Whereas before if you lost a leg you might lose your life...now you survive but have a hell of a rehab battle.  And as for poor equipment always being there,  the healthcare has been questionable in the past.  That's a lot of what the former Vietnam soldiers protests were about in the late 60s and early 70s.  Soldiers dying in these places from neglect.  However you cut it...unacceptable.

epo

02-23-2007, 07:56 PM

Currently on all days in this country our military is comprised of those whom volunteer their services to our nation.  Those services dedicate themselves to the ideals of our freedoms & the personal defenses of them.I've had relatives who have defended those freedoms in the past couple of years & they'll all tell you they are getting screwed.  Personally I'm sick of it.I'm sick of politicians who tell me I'm "aiding the terrorists" or "hurting the nation" by questioning their efforts.  Personally, as I've read the Constitution of the United States of America, my very questioning of their logic is standing up for those rights.If I sat back on those rights and didn't question....wouldn't I be shitting on the logic of Thomas Jefferson?   If I didnt' ask questions wouldnt' I be mocking Teddy Roosevelt?  In fact the most unpatriotic thing I could do is not ask a question and follow the adminstration blindly.  After all they've done such great work after all!

Yerdaddy

02-24-2007, 01:46 AM

BLZBUBBA wrote: Ooops!  That's the VA budget that's getting slashed not the VFW.  Maybe the VFW is slashing theirs as well.  My bad.  But same deal.  The vets are dealing with cuts.  Hospitals closing as well...not just filth,  rodents,  mold,  and the like.  Sure.  They're still getting healthcare but now they may have to travel hundreds of miles to get it.  I guess people are content to slap bumperstickers on their cars and be content but they really should write their representatives and senators and raise hell about this kinda crap.  Iraq is odd in that their are a lot more hideous injuries to deal with (relatively) because of the survival rate being better.  Whereas before if you lost a leg you might lose your life...now you survive but have a hell of a rehab battle.  And as for poor equipment always being there,  the healthcare has been questionable in the past.  That's a lot of what the former Vietnam soldiers protests were about in the late 60s and early 70s.  Soldiers dying in these places from neglect.  However you cut it...unacceptable. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070212/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_budget_veterans">Veterans face consecutive budget cuts </a>By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 12, 2:00 PM ETWASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans' health care two years from now — even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system.After an increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly — by more than 10 percent in many years — White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter.The proposed cuts are unrealistic in light of recent VA budget trends — its medical care budget has risen every year for two decades and 83 percent in the six years since Bush took office — sowing suspicion that the White House is simply making them up to make its long-term deficit figures look better."Either the administration is willingly proposing massive cuts in VA health care," said Rep. Chet Edwards (<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/politics/news/ap/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_budget_veterans/21913191/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Chet%20Edwards%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=n ews&cs=nw">news</a>, <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/bio/ap/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_budget_veterans/21913191/SIG=1175509fd/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/?id=564">bio</a>, <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/vote/ap/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_budget_veterans/21913191/SIG=11gggvcev/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/keyvotes/?id=564">voting record</a>) of Texas, chairman of the panel overseeing the VA's budget. "Or its promise of a balanced budget by 2012 is based on completely unrealistic assumptions."Edwards said that a more realistic estimate of veterans costs is $16 billion higher than the Bush estimate for 2012.[quote]The number of veterans coming into the VA health care system has been rising by about 5 percent a year as the number of people returning from Iraq with illnesses or injuries keep rising. Iraq and        Afghanistan war veterans represent almost 5 percent of the VA's patient caseload, and many are returning from battle with grievous injuries requiring costly care, such as traumatic brain injuries.All told, the VA expects to treat about 5.8 million patients next year, including 263,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.The White House budget office, however, assumes that t

hafast

02-27-2007, 10:33 AM

I think <a href="http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/170493" target="_blank">this</a> article is a pretty good summation of my thoughts about this.Yerdaddy, I'm with you.  It pisses me off when people say that those opposing the war aren't supporting the troops.  What a bullshit turn of logic!  How is wanting the troops to come home and not get killed not supporting them?  I don't know of too many people in the military that are saying "woo hoo, we got us a war!"  This is not to say that we will not do our job and fight.  My opinions of the war are irrelevant.  I signed up, and have reenlisted, knowing that I can be put into harm's way.  Right or wrong, I said I'd follow the orders of those appointed over me.  And I will do it without questioning those orders.  I don't want to get shot at, but if it's where they say I need to be, that's where I will go.  I think I've gone into ramble mode yet again, so I'll stop.  I will wrap up by telling you (Yerdaddy) that I look forward to your posts on political/military matters.  Your insight and knowledge amaze and intrigue me, and I find myself agreeing with your assesments on a regular basis.  Thanks!

Yerdaddy

02-27-2007, 02:02 PM

Thanks hafast. I'm touched, and not by weird Uncle Reeshy this time, that you dig my posts. Thanks for your own sacrifices and your family's. I've got a post I'm working on I think you're going to like about how we can solve the problem in Iraq by turning the country into a drug rehab/limosine-upskirt-clam-shot photography studio for retarded celebrity twats. It won't help us win Iraq but at least Americans will start to pay attention to it.

Tenbatsuzen

03-01-2007, 12:08 PM

<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255800,00.html">Walter Reed General is fired.</a>

hafast

03-01-2007, 01:00 PM

Yerdaddy wrote: Thanks hafast. I'm touched, and not by weird Uncle Reeshy this time, that you dig my posts. Thanks for your own sacrifices and your family's. I've got a post I'm working on I think you're going to like about how we can solve the problem in Iraq by turning the country into a drug rehab/limosine-upskirt-clam-shot photography studio for retarded celebrity twats. It won't help us win Iraq but at least Americans will start to pay attention to it. Now that's an exit strategy!  (or would that be an entry strategy?)

spoon

03-01-2007, 03:01 PM

It's simple, they look at the troops as tools, not people and really don't give two shits other than public perception.  We're all either worker or army ants to the powers that be.  In order to keep this structure, wars, and other tragedy needs to take place once in a while to set things straight and keep us in line.  Don't watch ant cartoons without thinking this way, bc our lives mimic this more then you think.  Except all this is done for money and power.

Yerdaddy

03-11-2007, 08:27 PM

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/us/12trauma.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin" target="_blank">For War's Gravely Injured, Challenge to Find Care</a> By DEBORAH SONTAG and LIZETTE ALVAREZMarch 12, 2007When Staff Sgt. Jarod Behee was asked to select a paint color for the customized wheelchair that was going to be his future, his young wife seethed. The government, Marissa Behee believed, was giving up on her husband just five months after he took a sniper’s bullet to the head during his second tour of duty in Iraq.Ms. Behee, a sunny Californian who was just completing a degree in interior design, possessed a keen faith in her husband’s potential to be rehabilitated from a severe brain injury. She refused to accept what she perceived to be the more limited expectations of the Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.“The hospital continually told me that Jarod was not making adequate progress and that the next step was a nursing home,” Ms. Behee said. “I just felt that it was unfair for them to throw in the towel on him. I said, ‘We’re out of here.’ ”Because Ms. Behee had successfully resisted the Army’s efforts to retire her husband into the V.A. health care system, his military insurance policy, it turned out, covered private care. So she moved him to a community rehabilitation center, Casa Colina, near her parents’ home in Southern California in late 2005. Three months later, Sergeant Behee was walking unassisted and abandoned his government-provided wheelchair. Now 28, he works as a volunteer in the center’s outpatient gym, wiping down equipment and handing out towels. It is not the police job that he aspired to; his cognitive impairments are serious. But it is not a nursing home, either.

Jujubees2

03-12-2007, 07:48 AM

How about this idiot?  Cheney says that the Congress is not supporting the troops.  Jesus, does this man have a conscience?  How about the wounded troops returning home to less-than-stellar care?  How about the troops who are being redeployed, time after time?  How about the troops who return home to find they have no job?  How about the troops that were sent over to Iraq without proper protection or weapons?<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070312/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq_18" target="_blank">Cheney: Congress undermining U.S. troops</a>

Yerdaddy

03-12-2007, 09:18 AM

Jujubees2 wrote: How about this idiot?  Cheney says that the Congress is not supporting the troops.  Jesus, does this man have a conscience?  How about the wounded troops returning home to less-than-stellar care?  How about the troops who are being redeployed, time after time?  How about the troops who return home to find they have no job?  How about the troops that were sent over to Iraq without proper protection or weapons?<img src="http://be.altermedia.info/images/CHENEY_(small)Dick.jpg" border="0" width="100" height="125" /> "Here's the world's smallest violin playing just for the soldiers... Errrrr... I mean... They shoulda got a deferral like I did... Errrrrrrrrr... Clinton's fault!"Their war. Their responsibility. They failed in it. They don't give a fuck.

Yerdaddy

03-12-2007, 09:58 AM

Jujubees2 wrote: How about this idiot?  Cheney says that the Congress is not supporting the troops.  Jesus, does this man have a conscience?  How about the wounded troops returning home to less-than-stellar care?  How about the troops who are being redeployed, time after time?  How about the troops who return home to find they have no job?  How about the troops that were sent over to Iraq without proper protection or weapons?<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070312/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq_18" target="_blank">Cheney: Congress undermining U.S. troops</a>Oh, and here's a fine example of Cheney's extremist rhetoric:When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that's been called 'slow bleeding,' they are not supporting the troops, they are undermining them," Cheney said in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.The phrase "slow-bleeding" was coined accidentally by the editor of a non-partisan political website, politico.com during the editing process of an analysis of Congressional Democrats' Iraq strategy. The editor apologized for the double-meaning of the of the phrase and it's subsequent usage by Republican demagogues and the so-called "liberal media".[quote]"Slow bleed" was featured on CNN and on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal. My former newspaper, The Washington Post, used the phrase the other day as if it were an established part of Washington lexicon, needing neither attribution nor explanation. "Slow bleed" also played a starring role in a parade of House floor speeches by Republicans denouncing Democrats, and in a fundraising letter from Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan. "Slow-bleed is exactly the right name for this incredibly irresponsible and dangerous strategy," he wrote.Like many others who weighed in, Duncan incorrectly stated that "slow-bleed" was the name that Democrats were using to describe their strategy.Here is where remorse kicks in. As happens all the time in journalism, this was a decision -- made on the fly and under deadline -- that I would have taken back in the morning. It is Murtha's job to defend his own policies. But I'd prefer not to hand his opponents ammunition in the form of evocative but loaded language.When my colleague Jim VandeHei and I started The Politico, we said we hoped to make the work of political journalists more transparent. So, in the name of transparency (and self-abasement), here is what happened.Bresnahan, who has unparalleled sources and understanding of how Congress works, wrote an article that was the first to detail the emerging Democratic strategy of challenging Bush on Iraq. Here was the lead paragraph of the draft he submitted:"Even as the House begins debate on a resolution opposing President Bush's plan to send 21,500 more U.S. combat troops to Iraq, leading anti-war groups are preparing a multi-million dollar TV ad campaign and grassroots lobbying blitz designed to pressure vulnerable incumbent lawmakers to end their support for the war."VandeHei and I read the article and were impressed by the detail of Bresnahan's reporting. But, as editors always do, we had our quibbles. Like the lead paragraph: Too bulky, and too bland. The story was a good bit better than the introduction.We rushed the patient to the operating table for emergency surgery. With VandeHei hovering over my shoulder, this is what I came up with:"Top House Democrats, working in concert with anti-war groups, have decided against using congressional power to force a quick end to U.S. involvement

A.J.

03-12-2007, 10:33 AM

Yerdaddy wrote: Oh, and here's a fine example of Cheney's extremist rhetoric:When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that's been called 'slow bleeding,' they are not supporting the troops, they are undermining them," Cheney said in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Like you need to amp up THAT audience.

DarkHippie

03-12-2007, 03:13 PM

Yerdaddy wrote: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/us/12trauma.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin" target="_blank">For War's Gravely Injured, Challenge to Find Care</a> By DEBORAH SONTAG and LIZETTE ALVAREZMarch 12, 2007When Staff Sgt. Jarod Behee was asked to select a paint color for the customized wheelchair that was going to be his future, his young wife seethed. The government, Marissa Behee believed, was giving up on her husband just five months after he took a sniper’s bullet to the head during his second tour of duty in Iraq.Ms. Behee, a sunny Californian who was just completing a degree in interior design, possessed a keen faith in her husband’s potential to be rehabilitated from a severe brain injury. She refused to accept what she perceived to be the more limited expectations of the Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.“The hospital continually told me that Jarod was not making adequate progress and that the next step was a nursing home,” Ms. Behee said. “I just felt that it was unfair for them to throw in the towel on him. I said, ‘We’re out of here.’ ”Because Ms. Behee had successfully resisted the Army’s efforts to retire her husband into the V.A. health care system, his military insurance policy, it turned out, covered private care. So she moved him to a community rehabilitation center, Casa Colina, near her parents’ home in Southern California in late 2005. Three months later, Sergeant Behee was walking unassisted and abandoned his government-provided wheelchair. Now 28, he works as a volunteer in the center’s outpatient gym, wiping down equipment and handing out towels. It is not the police job that he aspired to; his cognitive impairments are serious. But it is not a nursing home, either. At the day program I work we have a lot of Traumatic Brain Injury people.  We haven't gotten any TBI from the miltary yet, ut we're preparing for it.

HBox

03-12-2007, 04:02 PM

Why does anyone lsiten to Dick Cheney anymore? The man has shit his credibility away 100 times over in every way imaginable. How many more blatant and obvious lies does he have to say in public and on TV? How many more inflammatory and irresponsible accusations does he have to hurl? He's a completely despicable figure. There is nothing redeeming about him. At all. If were running a newspaper I wouldn't cover any of his speeches or give him any interviews. He hasn't shown any respect for anything so return it in kind. He is a proven liar. He has a distaste for everything that America stands for. He is the most loathsome character in this administration by far. That is quite an accomplishment.

high fly

03-12-2007, 05:24 PM

HBox wrote: Why does anyone lsiten to Dick Cheney anymore? The man has shit his credibility away 100 times over in every way imaginable. How many more blatant and obvious lies does he have to say in public and on TV? How many more inflammatory and irresponsible accusations does he have to hurl? He's a completely despicable figure. There is nothing redeeming about him. At all. If were running a newspaper I wouldn't cover any of his speeches or give him any interviews. He hasn't shown any respect for anything so return it in kind. He is a proven liar. He has a distaste for everything that America stands for. He is the most loathsome character in this administration by far. That is quite an accomplishment. Can't help but wonder how mch acid "Whatta" Dick B. Cheney did back in the 60s.He's starkers.I think he's at least half a robot.

high fly

03-12-2007, 05:26 PM

Story on Salon sez they are sending wounded soldiers back to Iraq, soldiers unfit for combat duty.

Yerdaddy

03-12-2007, 08:43 PM

HBox wrote: Why does anyone lsiten to Dick Cheney anymore? The man has shit his credibility away 100 times over in every way imaginable. How many more blatant and obvious lies does he have to say in public and on TV? How many more inflammatory and irresponsible accusations does he have to hurl? He's a completely despicable figure. There is nothing redeeming about him. At all. If were running a newspaper I wouldn't cover any of his speeches or give him any interviews. He hasn't shown any respect for anything so return it in kind. He is a proven liar. He has a distaste for everything that America stands for. He is the most loathsome character in this administration by far. That is quite an accomplishment. Because he's the president.

Shamrock

03-12-2007, 09:02 PM

They don't send wounded solders back in the fray unless they want to and can pass the physical and PT test.  Hell when they deploy any unit most of the time 10%-25% can't even pass the PT test or physical because of, lets say a bum knee, it's easy to not get deployed if your injured, your a big lyablity and if your hurt and go over there and then say " I fucked up my knee" then you'll get sent home and alot more money will be spent on helping that solder recover, it's a money issue more than anything.. Wounded in battle could mean getting a slight flesh wound or fucked up your shoulder, wounded don't always mean get shot up or IED' d.  Nobody is getting sent to fight that's not physically able to, no matter if they want to or not.  I know plenty of people that can't pass the physical to get deployed.

Yerdaddy

04-12-2007, 06:09 AM

Panel on Walter Reed Woes Issues Strong Rebuke (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/washington/12medical.html?hp=&pagewanted=print)
By SCOTT SHANE
April 12, 2007

WASHINGTON, April 11 — An independent panel assessing dilapidated facilities and red tape for wounded Iraq war veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Wednesday issued a sweeping indictment of leadership failures, inadequate training and staffing shortages.

The panel, headed by two former secretaries of the Army, Togo D. West Jr. and John O. Marsh Jr., found that a high standard of care for troops when they were first evacuated from war zones and hospitalized fell apart when they became outpatients, with a “breakdown in health services” and “compassion fatigue” on the part of overworked staff members.

“Leadership at Walter Reed should have been aware of poor living conditions and administrative hurdles and failed to place proper priority on solutions,” the panel said in a summary of its draft report released at a meeting at Walter Reed.

The report called the current system for assessing soldiers’ disabilities “extremely cumbersome, inconsistent, and confusing,” saying it must be “completely overhauled.” It called for the creation of a “center of excellence” on treatment, training and research on two conditions suffered by thousands of troops in Iraq: traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The panel, called the Independent Review Group, was appointed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February after The Washington Post reported on the problems at Walter Reed, the Army’s century-old medical center in Washington. A presidential commission and a Department of Veterans Affairs task force are also assessing the troubles.

The conditions at Walter Reed, including moldy, rat-infested quarters and a bureaucratic maze that left severely injured soldiers in limbo for months, have become a symbol of the government’s broader failure to help troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush visited patients at the facility March 30 and said, “I apologize for what they went through, and we’re going to fix the problem.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, Cynthia O. Smith, said Wednesday that he “welcomes the findings and believes our wounded warriors deserve the best treatment possible both as inpatients and outpatients.”

The initial reports in February led to a shake-up of Army leadership. Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey fired Walter Reed’s commander, Maj. Gen. George Weightman, and replaced him with Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army surgeon general.

But critics said General Kiley had been told about the problems and failed to act. Mr. Gates then publicly criticized the Army’s response as inadequate, and both Mr. Harvey and General Kiley stepped down.

Since then, the Army has moved aggressively to make improvements at Walter Reed. Patients have been moved out of the most squalid building. Some 28 new case managers have been added to help wounded soldiers navigate the medical system. A telephone hot line has been opened and information handbooks have been distributed to families of wounded service members.

Steve Robinson, a longtime veterans’ advocate with Veterans for America, said he welcomed the findings of the review panel. But he said the panel should address the problems of discharged soldiers who were not getting V.A. benefits they needed.

“What are we going to do about the thousands of people who have unjustifiably lost their V.A. benefits forever?” Mr. Robinson said. “It’s not enough just to fix the problems starting from the point that President Bush went to Walter Reed.”

Midkiff

04-12-2007, 06:22 AM

I have a personal story about this. I did six years in the USAF. I should have been medically retired, and retained retirement pay and benefits. My own USAF neurologist admitted this to me. Instead, they balked and waited and waited until my enlistment was complete, and had me apply for V.A. disability, which is FAR less money and benefits. They just wrote me off without bothering to treat me, so they could save money. I do get a V.A. disability payment, but it is nowhere near enough to support my family. I have a 50% disability, but I still have to work 50-60 hours per week and go to night classes to make ends meet.

The Republicans, who claim to be such troop supporters, are shit-eating liars. Li'l o'l ultra-lib Bill Clinton actually did more for us, believe it or not, than W has done.

Yerdaddy

06-18-2007, 04:30 AM

Little Relief on Ward 53 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/17/AR2007061701351.html?hpid=topnews)
At Walter Reed, Care for Soldiers Struggling With War's Mental Trauma Is Undermined by Doctor Shortages and Unfocused Methods

A.J.

06-18-2007, 04:46 AM

Little Relief on Ward 53 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/17/AR2007061701351.html?hpid=topnews)
At Walter Reed, Care for Soldiers Struggling With War's Mental Trauma Is Undermined by Doctor Shortages and Unfocused Methods

We should send them to that L.A. jail medical facility where Paris Hilton is getting treated for her "sickness".

Yerdaddy

04-08-2008, 01:54 AM

The Post won the public service award for revealing the mistreatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in work by two reporters, Dana Priest and Anne Hull, and a photographer, Michel du Cille. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/business/media/08pulitzers.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)

From the Post's piece: (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/07/AR2008040701359.html?hpid%3Dmoreheadlines&sub=AR)

The Post series on Walter Reed, by Dana Priest, Anne Hull and photographer Michel du Cille, won the public service medal for documenting in vivid detail the substandard treatment for wounded soldiers and poor living conditions marked by cockroaches and mold. The series sparked a political uproar, prompting Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to fire Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey, and a presidential commission later recommended numerous changes.

After numerous false starts, including visits to a downtown strip club where veterans were supposedly being fleeced, "the hard part was making people feel comfortable enough to talk to us," Priest said, "and then to talk to us on the record. . . . It was a hard story emotionally. For the first time, I found myself in tears after interviews. It was very heartbreaking." Du Cille described sneaking into a patient center with his camera hidden in his gym bag.

Well done.

Crispy123

04-08-2008, 12:01 PM

I cant even read your post with that outrageous headline, but you're wrong. Good day sir!!!

Crispy123

04-08-2008, 12:03 PM

I have a personal story about this. I did six years in the USAF. I should have been medically retired, and retained retirement pay and benefits. My own USAF neurologist admitted this to me. Instead, they balked and waited and waited until my enlistment was complete, and had me apply for V.A. disability, which is FAR less money and benefits. They just wrote me off without bothering to treat me, so they could save money. I do get a V.A. disability payment, but it is nowhere near enough to support my family. I have a 50% disability, but I still have to work 50-60 hours per week and go to night classes to make ends meet.

The Republicans, who claim to be such troop supporters, are shit-eating liars. Li'l o'l ultra-lib Bill Clinton actually did more for us, believe it or not, than W has done.

QFT, even if Bill + Hill did sell this country to China for their shares in Walmart inc.