This is about a homeboy from Clovis, California. My sister lives in Clovis, a city adjacent to Fresno. Jason Hubbard's brothers are buried in the same cemetery as my parents, my brother-in-law, and an aunt and uncle of mine.From the Los Angeles Times yesterday:
WASHINGTON — Nearly eight months ago, Iraq veteran and Fresno County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Hubbard lost the second of his two brothers in Iraq, leaving him as a "sole survivor" under military guidelines and requiring that he leave combat operations.
But after he returned home to Clovis, Calif., Hubbard, 33, was dealt another loss when the Army stripped him of his healthcare, took away GI Bill education benefits worth as much as $40,000 and demanded he repay his $6,000 enlistment bonus.
That is how the United States government under George W. Bush supports its troops.
Jason Hubbard saw his brother's body removed after a helicopter crash in Iraq. He had already lost a brother there. He had to come home. His wife is pregnant. And this is how his nation shows its gratitude.
The Hubbard Act would sort out the shit so this man and other men and women in similar situations are taken care of as they should be, not shafted in the midst of their families' grief. It has bipartisan support and should pass.
This sort of thing, I submit, has much more to do with patriotism than damned lapel pins (which are supposed to be considered as living things according to the current protocol, thereby elevating them to the level of the bodies we shatter and minds we traumatize sending them into needless war).
Don't. Get. Me. Started.
--the BB
7 comments:
Again and again I scream and cry- what kind of evil f*ckery is this?!
My prayers of lamentation and grief sound deeply into the night after reading this.
Paul, I have now read this post three times, and I have no words, except that, yes, we must pass the Hubbard Act. Some stories are too evil and too callous to take in. They're surreal.
Unconscionable. And Evil. Unfortunately not the only instance, either. I'll have to see which person I contact - if it's my representative I don't hold out much hope. My senators, however, are usually pretty good on stuff like this...
The disconnect between Chimpy and his advisors and the suffering of ordinary people leaves me speechless.
I heard about this on the radio this afternoon, easy to google. The neglect of our troops and destruction of the military causes me great pain and outrage. I am not big on military solutions, much less military stupidity, but I sure as hell believe in doing right by the people who fight so I have the freedom to have a blog like this. It's just sickening how Chimpy et al. get away with the aura of being for our troops when they don't give a good goddamn.
W as the wizard of Oz? Pay no attention to what's happening behind the curtain!
For what it's worth, I did email my congressman about the Hubbard Act. It may not be worth much - he is an ultra-conservative @$$, who will probably see this as an attempt to increase taxes and be against it.
This from men who either "had better things to do" or hid out and then deserted from a National Guard Unit (Papa pulled strings to get him in in the first place) when it was their turn to serve (just to add insult to injury). Neither has even one scintilla of conscience.
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