Family Says Army Shortchanging Former POW

Associated Press via Yahoo News ^ | 10/24/03 | CHRIS ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer

[TexKat]

EL PASO, Texas - The father of former prisoner of war Shoshana Johnson on Friday accused the Army of shortchanging his daughter of disability benefits after she was offered a smaller paycheck than fellow POW Jessica Lynch.

"She is not getting what she deserves," Claude Johnson said.

Family members confirmed that Lynch, a private first class who was snatched from her Iraqi captors on April 1 in a rescue by Special Forces, is receiving an 80 percent disability. Johnson, a specialist who was released on April 13 with four other American POWs, has been offered 30 percent, Claude Johnson said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who consulted the Johnson family, said race was playing a part in Army's decision. Lynch is white; Johnson is black.

"There's a long history of blacks not receiving fair and adequate recognition in the military," said Jackson. "The first black female POW who survived is about to be discharged and suffers the trauma, the emotional injury and has a 3-year-old daughter to raise. She deserves more."

Army spokesman Maj. Steve Stover said Shoshana Johnson's payment can be appealed.

Stover said the two cases are different and race is not an issue.

Stover disputed reports that Lynch had been medically discharged this summer, even though she has been allowed to reach a $1 million book deal.

He said Lynch is on the Temporary Disability Retired List and has not technically been discharged. She will be reevaluated periodically and if recovered sufficiently, she could go back on active duty or request an official discharge.

Shoshana Johnson will be discharged soon.

"The disability compensation is based on each individual soldier's condition," Stover said.

Military officials said Lynch was hurt after her Humvee utility vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed into another vehicle. She suffered multiple broken bones and other injuries and it was four months before she could walk again.

Shoshana Johnson was shot in both ankles and was held by Iraqi captors for 22 days. She still periodically uses a walking cast, has a hard time staying on her feet for any period of time and is not sleeping well, her father said.

She was shown in an Iraqi video fearfully watching her captors as they peppered her and the other POWs with questions.

The disability and discharge status of the other former POWs was not immediately known.

Claude Johnson said Lynch and his daughter, who were both stationed at Fort Bliss near El Paso, have become friends.

In a statement released Friday by her attorney, Lynch said she was "disappointed for Shoshana."

"When she visited me in West Virginia last month, we discussed the extent of our injuries and the long road back to health, including a lifetime commitment to physical therapy and rehabilitation," Lynch said. "I support her efforts 100 percent and wish her a continued ... recovery."

[TexKat]

I heard about this early this morning on the radio on my way to work. I had been looking for the story all day.

[boxerblues]

I saw it on the the news earlier this evening, Jesse Jackson is now somehow involved in this.

[GeronL]

JJ said its all about race, its in the article

"She is not getting what she deserves," Claude Johnson said.

wwwaaaahhhhhhh!!!! somebody got more than me.... wwwaaahhhhh!!!!!

[Glock17]

My Grandpa set metal detectors off because the Japanese frags in him and walked with a limp until the day he died. He never drew a penny for it. He worked for his money. If one is really unable to work, I don't mind. But something about this smells bad.

[laweeks]

Here we go with the race card. It's coming! First of all, women should NOT be anywhere near combat zones unless they're in a medical detachment. What in the world was Dubya thinking?

Second of all, this young lady is RIGHT in that she's not getting the super-star treatment that the young lady from WV is getting. The feminists have glommed on to their young/white/cute(?) star who apparently did nothing more heroic than to fall under a flipped-over jeep, was captured, and who was then given ultra-special medals of honor (medals denied to others who HAVE done heroics) because of her "marketability." I'm sure Jessica went thru a personal hell (although they say she doesn't remember anything), but this other young lady has a valid complaint. But I hope we don't have to see J Jackson and A Sharpton's fat faces poking around.

[TexKat]

The radio station I was listening to this morning said that they were scheduled to talk with Soshannna and her father this morning but it was cancelled due to the Pentagon prohibiting the Johnsons from doing so.

[TexKat]

My Grandpa set metal detectors off because the Japanese frags in him and walked with a limp until the day he died. He never drew a penny for it.

Well he and others should have received some form of disability. The sin a turds are giving themselves raises every year while one-third of our guys are patrolling Iraq without protected vest and will not get them until sometime in December.

[TexKat]

First of all, women should NOT be anywhere near combat zones unless they're in a medical detachment

I received a letter from my son yesterday who is in Iraq and he totally agrees with you. I can tell you that he is not a happy camper. He said that there have been 3 females from his unit sent home due to pregnancy.

[america-rules]

The VA has written regulations that deal with all this. For example if you lose an arm you get a 20% rating, lose a leg 40%, a hand 20% etc.. If you have multiple injuries the additional is not added to the others but added to what's left. Example, lose two hands and it's not 20% plus 20% = 40%. It's 20% plus 20% of the 80% left and then if you only have an arm half blown off it could be 10%.

In the case of this woman two legs partly functional (she can walk and work) 30% sounds about the right amount.

Just FYI: I got a 30% rating for a bad heart valve and they said it wasn't 60% because my heart still functioned. I guess a heart that didn't function gets a 60% rating and not 100%? The total of all my ratings came to 80% but the offical rating is 56% because of their formula and then this is rounded to the nearest 10% so my rating is 60% disabled and I have priority one status which is higher then someone with agent orange etc.. I've never used the VA in 18 months retired because I pay for my own insurance and don't want to take away from the people who really need it.

Now the kicker: Disabled in VA terms isn't the same as a state rating or medicare etc.. VA Disabled is how much income would you lose if you couldn't work in your military job in the civilian world - it's not welfare and look at it as paying to fix for damage when you bring back a damaged rental car with your body being the car and the Gov't rented it for your service and is paying for the damage it caused, i.e, service connected disability !

[kms61]

I was told that if you retire on jump status you get an automatic 10% disability.

[SkyPilot]

Interesting...

[america-rules]

"I was told that if you retire on jump status you get an automatic 10% disability. "

I've seen most get 20% because being a jumper usally means two bad knees !

[america-rules]

I forgot to add to my post above. All the nice VA Doctors that I visited during my evaluations were black and I'm not so I wouldn't be supprised if there aren't many Blacks getting ratings by black doctors. It may not mean anything and I got what my VA Rep told me I would get before I retired and applied for any ratings but it does make Jesse Jackass look more stupid !

[Aaron0617]

Second of all, this young lady is RIGHT in that she's not getting the super-star treatment that the young lady from WV is getting.

I haven't seen pic of Jessica Lynch in Vegas. Nor has the Black Congresional Caucus presented Lynch with a special award as they've done Shoshana.

Vegas gives key to the city to ex-POW Shoshana Johnson

Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson doesn't think of herself as a hero, despite receiving the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal.

She says, when her 3-year-old daughter grows up, the word heroic will not be used to describe how she survived an ambush near Nasiriyah and weeks spent in Iraqi captivity. Instead, she's going to tell her,"Her mom's a soldier who came home by the grace of God to watch her grow up."

[Fantelina]

Just FYI: I got a 30% rating for a bad heart valve and they said it wasn't 60% because my heart still functioned. I guess a heart that didn't function gets a 60% rating and not 100%? The total of all my ratings came to 80% but the offical rating is 56% because of their formula and then this is rounded to the nearest 10% so my rating is 60% disabled and I have priority one status which is higher then someone with agent orange etc.. I've never used the VA in 18 months retired because I pay for my own insurance and don't want to take away from the people who really need it. My husband spent 22 years active duty, 3 months of living hell in a DaNang Hospital and he got 20% for his disability. Must have been because he was white.

[Ruth A.]

I think I caught her on Letterman and she was huble, gracious and funny. I would think that Je$$e wormed his way into the family to create this commotion.

They should appeal the decision. Mind you, had this not been brought up or asked about in the right way to the right person, the military would not have told the family that they could appeal the decision.

Women don't belong on ships or in combat. They are not physically able carry others out or have the muscle to secure passage ways, etc. And, yes, they do get pregnant, get sent to shore duty and some fellow has to come out and take her place. Not, fair at all.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Ping.

[mass55th]

Jackson is of course using race as a factor in a disability case. Anybody with half a brain knows that disability payments are based on the percentage of loss of use. It also includes a prognosis of the projected time period your disability will be a factor. It's obvious that Lynch's injuries will probably leave her permanently disabled for the rest of her life. Her initial percentage can always be reduced during re-evaluations if her condition improves. Johnson's injuries, while they may be disabling, are probably not as severe as Lynch's. Johnson suffered injuries to her two ankles. Lynch suffered injuries to her whole body. Race has nothing to do with it.

[maxter]

I saw her too on one of the late night shows. Your description was the way I saw it. She was very humble, very funny and gracious. She seemed well grounded with no animosity toward anybody. I think there must be external forces at work here, i.e. Jesse and his race card.

[corlorde]

Jesse "show me the money" Jackson and external forces go hand in hand. To say the VA or the militray is giving compensation because of race is stupid. If I recall, Lynth has a back injury. If Shoshana Johnson feels she's not getting enough or was rated wrong, she should appeal. People who appeal seem to do better.