Now Betraying Our Soldiers?!?!

From WCSH6.com:
It would seem that the pentagon in an attempt to save money has shortchanged our soldiers. A unit from Minnesota National Guard, returning home from THE LONGEST deployment of any unit, have now found out that they are being denied certain benefits that should be due them.

When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.

1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.

Because of a friendly-fire sneak-attack, our fighting men and women are being screwed at home.

Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days. Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.

"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.

That money would help him pay for his master's degree in public administration. It would help Anderson's fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, pay for a degree in law enforcement. "I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home," Hobot said.

How do the soldiers feel about it? Devastated to be sure...

Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730. Now, six of Minnesota's members of the House of Representatives have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into it -- So have Senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman.

Klobuchar said the GI money "shouldn't be tied up in red tape," and Coleman said it's "simply irresponsible to deny education benefits to those soldiers who just completed the longest tour of duty of any unit in Iraq."

Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home. "I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved."

Senators Klobuchar and Coleman released a joint statement saying the Army secretary, Pete Geren, is looking into this personally, and they say Geren asked a review board to expedite its review so the matter could be solved by next semester.

Minnesota National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Olson said the soldiers are "victims of a significant injustice."

So, what did the Army have to say about this travesty of justice? This slap in the face? This betrayal of our fighting forces? This backhanded way of screwing our military?

The Army did not respond questions Tuesday afternoon.

Our country should be doing everything it can for our military members. It is a disgrace that our veterans are receiving the worst care in the nation. Many have to wait 6-12 months to see a doctor. We need to double the size of the Veterans Administration in order to provide proper, adequate, and DUE CARE that is due to our soldiers for putting their lives on the line for us who would not or could not fight.

This is a betrayal of our soldiers to use red tape to deny earned benefits.