Today's Rapid City Journal editorial points out a very callous policy by the Department of Defense:
On the day when the community of Timber Lake gathers to bury one of its own — Army Cpl. Tanner O’Leary — we offer our sympathy to his family and our strong support for the Wounded Warrior Bonus Equity Act.
Unbelievable as it may seem, the Department of Defense has a policy that requires combat-wounded military personnel to give back a portion of the enlistment bonus they received if they are medically retired or separated from the military due to combat-related injury.
As a 10-year military veteran who worked in a 24/7 career field that had a wartime combat role, I'm familiar with sacrifice and military necessity. As one might expect, military service--even when injuries aren't involved--comes with a lot of hardships and work under extreme conditions and demands that many civilians might never dream of.
But for the DOD to demand that injured and medically retired service members to give back a portion of their enlistment bonus goes beyond cold-hearted into the callous territory.
From a purely fiscal accounting perspective, I see their point. However, a purely fiscal accounting perspective fails to even consider what they have suffered and lost on behalf of their country.
I don't advocate our military members be paid what what their service is truly worth (I don't know if we could afford that much, even if we did away with all the unconstitutional social spending), but they certainly deserve better than this slap in the face, after they've been severely injured in defense of their country.
I join the Rapid City Journal in support of the Wounded Warrior Bonus Equity Act. This bill should be passed with all haste.
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