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Congress pledges relief for wounded vets
11:50 AM CDT on Monday, October 27, 2008
2008 WFAA-TV, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV
Last week, a News 8 investigation discovered that thousands of American Iraq war veterans are being penalized by the armed services they fought for.
Now, members of Congress say they will act to correct the problem affecting servicemen and servicewomen injured while serving their country.
"It's a case where someone has fallen through the cracks," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). "Now we need to get to work and fix it so they are not falling through the cracks."
"It's like a slap in the face," said "Jake," an Air Force war veteran. "I would have felt better if they'd just walked up and slugged me in the jaw."
Jake flew wounded soldiers out of Iraq dozens of times. Now he's one of them - injured and honorably discharged.
Like thousands of others wounded in war, Jake, his wife, and two kids are struggling to make ends meet.
"I'm having to live at home with my parents right now because I can't afford rent; I can't afford a house payment," Jake said.
He's supposed to get an $880 disability payment for his injuries from the Department of Veterans Affairs each month. But the Air Force grabs most of the check before Jake gets it because he got a severance payment when he was discharged.
That leaves $220 for him and his family of three to live on.
In the 2008 defense bill, Congress decided that practice was wrong, and ordered it to cease in January. But that offers no help to thousands of wounded vets who were discharged before then.
"I appreciate your bringing this to our attention," said Sen. Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "It's certainly not something Congress intended."
Rep. Sylvestre Reyes (D-El Paso) is on the House Armed Services Committee. "If there's something that needs to be corrected, going retroactively, that's what we'll do," he pledged.
The agonies of what he experienced in Iraq still give Jake nightmares. His wife also suffers from the violent nightmares he's had.
"I looked over at her and she's got blood coming over on her nose from where I'd hit her in the nose in the middle of the night," Jake said. "She was afraid to tell me because she knew the problems I was having."
Now Congress knows the financial problems that Jake and other wounded vets are having.
"Hopefully we could get some relief passed on an expedited basis," Sen. Cornyn said.
The earliest that could happen would be next month, when Congress reconvenes after the elections. The next opportunity after that would be in January.
For thousands of vets, every month without their full disability check is financial torture.
E-mail bharris@wfaa.com
copyright 2008 WFAA-TV, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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