# Pentagon demands wounded vets refund part of their signing bonuses **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714 "2007-12-03T22:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/21 "2007-12-05T13:38:00Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] I’m still no more sympathetic than the last time a sob-story about a bonusless wounded GI came out. [/QUOTE] 😕 When was that? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/22 "2007-12-05T14:37:08Z")
Maybe they shouldn’t get any bonuses if they don’t pay attention during basic training. How hard can it be to dodge bullets and shrapnel? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/23 "2007-12-05T14:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] I’m still no more sympathetic than the last time a sob-story about a bonusless wounded GI came out. [/QUOTE] Which is why you are one of our most popular new members. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/24 "2007-12-05T14:49:10Z")
Anyway, I would hardly defend military pay, but the evidence seems to be that the outrage here might be overblown just a bit. [Link.](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jucBoOrnNQVPJgnjoeJAjCbVArcAD8TB5T880) > [@](#): > > Those watching such developments say the problem appears to have been wildly overstated. > > “We’re six years into a war. The military’s been paying enlistment bonuses for a while, and we would have heard a lot about it” if it were happening, said Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars. “There are other issues that are more important for the Congress to be taking up.” > > The Pentagon says it has received just two complaints on the issue since a “wounded warrior” hotline was set up this summer. > > Pentagon policy and practice for at least 20 years has been to fully pay enlistment bonuses to soldiers forced to leave the military early for reasons beyond their control, such as a combat injury, according to Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense. > > Administrative lapses have occurred, however. > > Most recently, Jordan Fox, an Army sniper from Mount Lebanon, Pa., who was partially blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, was mistakenly sent a letter asking him to repay $2,800 of his enlistment bonus. A similar case, involving a veteran whose bonus payments were cut off, was found by a presidential commission formed earlier this year to recommend improvements in veterans’ care. > > In both instances, the Pentagon said the problems were administrative errors that would be corrected. > > Fox, it turned out, would not be asked to repay his bonus. > > …Susan Hosek, an economist at the Rand Corp. think tank who was the presidential commission’s research director, said the commission was satisfied with the Pentagon’s response. > > “It certainly didn’t rise to the level of an important issue in our work,” Hosek said of the panel, headed by former Sen. Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. “If it had, we would have made sure that it was highlighted in our report … we literally only heard about it once that I know of.” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/25 "2007-12-05T14:50:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Which is why you are one of our most popular new members. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] To be fair, not everyone was sympathetic with \*\*MrDibble \*\* when he took offense at the user name [Venus Hottentot](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414278). ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/26 "2007-12-05T14:52:55Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] 😕 When was that? [/QUOTE] Here’s one example of\*\* Mr. Dribble\*\* pissing all over a thread about a wounded vet. > **[Two Wounded Soldier Stories](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=436655)** > > Here’s one. Here’s another. Part One. Part Two. The first one is about a sniper who lost his eye and has been in bureaucratic limbo at Walter Reed. It’s a sad story, with a few Helleresque catches thrown in. It makes me very angry that anyone... ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/27 "2007-12-05T15:39:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Which is why you are one of our most popular new members. [/QUOTE] “new” member? Are you parsing the join date right there, **Moto**? and **Contrapuntal** , if people don’t want their “poor widdle sodier” _über_patriot-fests commented on, post them in MPSIMS and I’ll keep well away. Post in the Pit, and run the risk that not everyone who posts oozes sympathy for the willing casualties of your military machine. ETA: And **Mr.Dribble**? What are you, six years old? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/28 "2007-12-05T15:52:13Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] “new” member? Are you parsing the join date right there, **Moto**? [/QUOTE] My mistake. Perhaps I didn’t notice you much before. Frankly, I liked it better that way. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/29 "2007-12-05T15:56:00Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] ETA: And **Mr.Dribble**? What are you, six years old? [/QUOTE] At least. And for my birthday, I want a one trick pony. Never mind. You’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/30 "2007-12-06T06:36:14Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] My mistake. Perhaps I didn’t notice you much before. Frankly, I liked it better that way. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I know, I never like being reminded about uncomfortable truths much either…there, there, stick your head back under that Stars&Stripes blankie. [QUOTE=Contrapuntal] At least. And for my birthday, I want a one trick pony. Never mind. You’ll do. [/QUOTE] Hah! Hah! Yep, that’s me, one-trick pony, gosh, you sure nailed me. Guess I’ll have to leave the Board now, I never do anything else here after all. Cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/31 "2007-12-06T06:39:59Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble to Contrapuntal] Cunt. [/QUOTE] Just so you know, some of the board’s women are terribly offended by misogynistic gender slurs. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/32 "2007-12-06T07:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] …there, there, stick your head back under that Stars&Stripes blankie. [/QUOTE] Why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/33 "2007-12-06T07:21:40Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] Why do you hate America? [/QUOTE] That only works when the subject doesn’t really hate America. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/34 "2007-12-06T07:58:45Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Just so you know, some of the board’s women are terribly offended by misogynistic gender slurs. [/QUOTE] As well as those of us who were just raised right. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/35 "2007-12-06T08:23:47Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Just so you know, some of the board’s women are terribly offended by misogynistic gender slurs. [/QUOTE] Not that old bollocks again. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/36 "2007-12-06T10:02:43Z")
[QUOTE=Gary Kumquat] Not that old bollocks again. [/QUOTE] **Lib** ’s just trying to needle me - he’s still a little bummed that I got a username with an ethnic slur dropped when people’re still allowed to say “fundie” or “white trash” … or … something like that. It’s a roundabout attempt to get me to see my own hypocrisy. It’d have been the same response if I’d used a different word, I’m sure. Of course, I don’t care. I like the swearword a lot (AngloSaxiphile that I am), and _I was using it to be offensive_, which is where the comparison breaks down. Of course, if there’s a rule against using it, I’ll follow said rule. **Lib** can agitate for such a rule if he wishes. I’m sure it’ll be as successful as the campaign against “fundie”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/37 "2007-12-06T10:07:19Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] Why do you hate America? [/QUOTE] Because “Horse With No Name” was a really shitty song? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/38 "2007-12-06T15:20:00Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] **Lib** ’s just trying to needle me - he’s still a little bummed that I got a username with an ethnic slur dropped when people’re still allowed to say “fundie” or “white trash” … or … something like that… I was using it to be offensive [/QUOTE] Well, before your head explodes from self-importance, it should be noted that you got nothing dropped. The Venus Hottentot name was changed voluntarily by the user in a unilateral show of class. You may now continue offending people. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/39 "2007-12-06T15:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Nope. Just a story. But it goes back and back. Remember Rudhyard Kiplings poem, you know, “It’s Tommy this, and Tommy that and chuck the bugger out…” or some such. We do it every time, so does pretty much everybody else. We fall all over ourselves gushing patriotic platitudes about Our Heroes, and then the bill comes, and we want to itemize who ordered the extra serving of water. Combat fucks people up, it just does. If we would keep that in mind, that we are sending our children to Hell, we might be more reluctant. I hope so, anyway, despite all evidence to the contrary. [/QUOTE] When you say “we” who are you talking about, elucidator? I don’t remember voting for Bush even once. I don’t remember supporting the war in Iraq, ever. I do support the war in Afghanistan, but not the way it has been conducted. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714/40 "2007-12-06T19:14:31Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Well, before your head explodes from self-importance, [/QUOTE] Nope, I’m well aware there’s only room for one swollen head up there… [QUOTE=Liberal] it should be noted that you got nothing dropped. The Venus Hottentot name was changed voluntarily by the user in a unilateral show of class. You may now continue offending people. [/QUOTE] [Bullshit!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8407810&postcount=29) Her first position was to retain it over my objections. She even started a thread defending it - then she started getting Admin emails. So no, it’s not like she just gave it up all classy-like. And look, [it still continues](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) . Fuuuuuck! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentagon-demands-wounded-vets-refund-part-of-their-signing-bonuses/428714.md?page=3)