The recent decision by the U.S. military to demand that nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers return a reenlistment bonus paid to them a decade ago because of an accounting error on the part of the Pentagon is both shameful and unconscionable.
This is just one more example of how the U.S. government has abused and unfairly exploited the good men and women who have risked their lives to protect the United States’ core values.
In what universe does asking someone who has provided a vital service to your country to pay back money (with interest) which was legally promised and paid to them in accordance with their reenlistment contracts constitute justice or even a semblance of respect for the ever-more-besmirched men and women who make up the U.S. military?
If there was an error made, it was made by the government, not the National Guardsmen and Guardswomen.
And it is clearly the government that should man up and assume the costs of that mistake.
These brave men and women served their terms — often in combat situations in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The money that was paid out to them as signing bonuses was an incentive to keep the United States’ all-volunteer army vital and strong, with the savvy experience and expertise of trained and skilled personnel.
These servicemen and women did not scheme to defraud the government.
They accepted the bonuses in good faith and then completed the terms of their military obligations, often facing combat.
Some of them earned Purple Hearts.
Asking these National Guard re-enlistees to pay for the Pentagon’s mistake is unpardonable and a blatant betrayal of the country’s military.
In the last decade, the United States has degraded and debased those who serve one of its most crucial and reputable institutions, its military complex.
While the government churns out millions of dollars for foreign aid and $400 million to Iran to bribe it into complying with its promises on a questionable nuclear deal (good luck with that one, but that is another column), the state of U.S. veteran hospitals grows more deplorable by the day and the entire Veterans Administration’s health care system has become a national farce.
It is high time for the U.S. Congress to show some respect for the military and to stop harassing these poor Guardsmen and Guardswomen by threatening them with tax liens and possible bankruptcy to pay back over-bloated interest on money they rightful earned.
George Washington once said: “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
Is this the image that the U.S. government wants its future potential military recruits to carry with them when they consider signing up?
Thérèse Margolis can be reached at [email protected].
