Jordan Fox joined the Army, wanting to help his country. The patriot, from Mt Lebanon, PA, joined the Infantry (which really is the ONLY combat arm that matters) passed through training, and then elected to go through sniper school, passed and went to the one place in the world where the Army needs snipers, and that isn’t in Fort Drum.

While in the sandbox, he did his duty, saw combat, got promoted to PFC, and got wounded seriously enough that he was discharged.

(CBS) Jordan Fox received a $10,000 signing bonus when he joined the Army. The Mt. Lebanon man served his country in Iraq, where as a sniper he survived machine gun battles and a roadside bomb that knocked him unconscious and blinded him in his right eye.

The injury forced the military to send him home. A few weeks later, Fox received a bill from the Department of Defense, saying he owes the military nearly $3,000 from his original enlistment bonus because he couldn't fulfill three months of his commitment.

"I tried to do my best and serve my country and unfortunately I was hurt in the process and now they're telling me that they want their money back," Fox told CBS station KDKA-TV.

It’s a simple story. Man steps up to the plate. Gets wounded and is disabled because the Army doesn’t need any one-eyed snipers this year. Gets discharged and then is asked for a rebate on the unused portion of his enlistment bonus.

ARRRGHHH!

Surprisingly, the man actually pitches a bitch, believing that there is no reason for the Army to act like a bunch of cut-throat corporatists, feeling that just because George Bu$h doesn’t give a Chinese fart what happens to American soldiers, there is no reason for the Army to act that way.

Does America really need Republican pimps in the Green bag?

A Fake News station invited him on their show, planning to sandbag him with the “announcement” arranged one hour before airtime that HQ, Department of the Army has magnanimously decided that in this case, Jordan Fox doesn’t have to give back the $2,800 that they tried to bill him for. You shouldn’t be surprised by this because Roger Ailes and Rupert “Green Card” Murdoch have built an empire for themselves fellating the Republican Party. As I understand, Mr Fox stated he was happy about the news, but immediately riposted with a comment wondering how this decision will affect all the other GIS who have been dunned.

Interestingly enough, Fox may have lost an eye in Iraq, but not his mind and as CBS (a real news network) explains,

This is apparently not an isolated bureaucratic foul-up. The military is allegedly demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses - up to $30,000 in some cases. Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

Military regulations do allow for discharged soldiers to be forced to pay back part of their enlistment bonuses if they do not serve their entire commitment, if they were found to have "pre-existing" conditions, such as psychological disorders.

Keith Olberman had a few words to say about the whole matter.

Was the Army taking the shot that maybe Jordan Fox would just meekly hand back the rest of his enlistment bonus because “We’re bigger than you are, kid. You can’t win.” ?

Naw! I don’t believe that, do you? Uniformed Republican pimps trying to outwit a soldier?

The Army Times adds a little more to the mix:

In late October, Fox got a letter from the Army seeking repayment of part of his enlistment bonus because he had only completed about a year of his three-year service.

Another letter arrived a week later warning he could be charged interest if he didn’t make a payment within 30 days.

“I was just completely shocked,” Fox said. “I couldn’t believe I’d gotten a bill in the mail from the Army.” [emph added]

“Pay it back, fast, or you’ll be charged interest, too” Nothing like a little piling on, eh, gents?

I’m reminded of stories about Mr Cheney’s Halliburton being caught overcharging the Army for meals and the Army magnanimously deciding not to sue to recoup the funds that were defrauded, arguing that it was to much work to chase after the millions of dollars stolen from the taxpayers.

Obviously, PFC Fox’s mistake was not being born a Cheney. But then, if he had been born a Cheney he wouldn’t have had to enlist, go to Iraq, and surely wouldn’t have been wounded. Members of the Cheney family always seem to have other priorities when there’s killing going on.

Faced with some nationwide adverse publicity about the matter, HQ, DA decided this is one of those times when you pull in your horns.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2007 – If you are wounded in combat and discharged as a result, you will not have to pay back your enlistment bonus, Defense Department officials said here today.

“Bonuses are not recouped simply for one's inability to complete an enlistment or re-enlistment agreement through no fault of the military member,” a policy statement said.

Pentagon officials re-stated their policy after a wounded soldier in Pennsylvania received a bill from the Army. Jordan Fox was a private first class in Baqouba, Iraq, when he was wounded in the explosion of an improvised explosive device. Fox suffered vision troubles in his right eye and suffered a back injury when the bomb went off in May.

Fox was medically discharged and went home to his town near Pittsburgh. The Army sent him a letter asking him to repay $2,800 of his $7,500 enlistment bonus. He received a second letter telling him the Army would charge interest if he didn't make a payment within 30 days.

“Department policy prohibits recoupment when it would be contrary to equity and good conscience, or would be contrary to the nation's interests,” according to the Defense Department policy statement. “Those circumstances include, for example, an inability to complete a service agreement because of illness, injury, disability, or other impairment that did not clearly result from misconduct.”

Department policy on recoupment also establishes that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the secretaries of the military departments “shall remit or cancel any and all theater debt incurred by military members who were medically evacuated from a combat zone due to injury or illness, except in the event of clear misconduct.”

Army officials said Fox will not be required to pay back any enlistment money he received. “By all accounts, his case seems to be an isolated one,” Army officials said. Anyone who does have an issue can call the Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline at 1-800-984-8523.

Am I out of place asking what will happen to the Gus who got these dunning letters a year or two ago and actually scrimped, saved, and borrowed from family in order to repay the enlistment bonuses that should never have been clawed back?

Will the Army pay those citizens and veterans interest when they reimburse them?