Posted on 05/31/2010 9:47:30 PM PDT by AuntB
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Gary Pfleider II served his country for six years before he became a member of the new generation of disabled veterans.
Pfleider, a former Oregon National Guard soldier, was shot by a sniper while on patrol in Iraq in September 2007. He has only vague memories of the event, but now must live with a permanent reminder -- a brace he'll have to wear on his leg for the rest of his life.
"I remember grabbing a hold of my leg, and realizing I had blood on my hands," he said. "And from that point on until I got loaded onto the Stryker was just a big blur."
Three days after he was shot, Pfleider received a Purple Heart.
Almost two years later, he received a bill from the military for missing equipment.
The sum of the bill, which includes interest, is $3,175. It itemizes a list of gear the military issued to Pfleider that did not come back with his unit in 2008. The lists includes clothing items, canteens and grenades.
Pfleider, who now walks with a cane, believes the items were lost after he was flown out of the country for medical treatment. He doesn't believe he should be held responsible for the items, but the military disagrees.
The federal government has been deducting money from his disability check each month to cover the billed costs. And Pfleider said the feds withheld his tax return for the same reason.
Capt. Stephan Bomar with the Oregon National Guard said the bill was issued by Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where Pfleider spent a year recovering from his injury. Bomar added it is customary for soldiers in Pfleider's situation to be billed for missing equipment.
"It's one of the processes. That way, we keep good accountability for the equipment," he said.
Bomar said Pfleider should submit a sworn statement explaining his situation and requesting reimbursement.
But Pfleider has already done that. He still has a copy of his sworn statement, which he signed and submitted at the Albany, Oregon armory in February. The former soldier fears his case is lost in a pile of paperwork between Oregon and Washington.
"Honestly, I do. I think it's just sitting somewhere on somebody's desk at Fort Lewis, and they just don't want to mess with it because they don't think it's a big enough issue," he said.
But to Pfleider, who is scheduled to undergo his ninth leg surgery, the delay is an additional source of stress.
"To me, it's my livelihood," he said.
The veteran is still battling with flashbacks, and trying to adjust to civilian life. He said he never thought he'd have to fight the military once he returned home.
"Car going down a road, backfiring -- it still sends me into flashbacks of being over there. But I deal with it, because I know it's part of my life that's never going to leave," he said.
Lewis-McChord officials said they're looking into Pfleider's charges. Bomar said unless the charges are found to be erroneous, Pfleider will still have to pay the full sum.
Has anyone sent this to Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity? I’ll bet they can get these charges taken off this man’s account.
INDEED. MARXIST STOOGES PRANCING ABOUT D.C.
GRRR.
THE TREASONOUS CONGRESS CRITTERS ALLOWING THIS TO GO ON OUGHT TO COUGH UP ALL THE FUNDS TAKEN FROM THESE MILITARY PATRIOTS.
WHAT TREASONOUS IDIOCY. GRRRRR.
“Has anyone sent this to Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity? I’ll bet they can get these charges taken off this man’s account.”
Thanks, please do, the more of us that send it, the better the chance they’ll see it.
Sending it now.
What on earth does John McCain have to do with a soldier’s worthless commanders?
best post of the month. VERY well put B.
when i got my issue at ft dix, i KNEW that i had to return all that crap or else i would get in trouble. so what i did is basically my best at avoiding using any item that wasnt necessary. i place all my gear in a locker and sealed it shut.
at the end of my deployment i returned everything to the unit. nothing was missing. i might have been a little colder, or without using some items but damn it if i wound up getting a “no pay due” on my check
The soldier here does the same and submits a statement to the Army that his gear was lost due to enemy action. Case closed.
I know this happens but it isn’t right.
The article says “The lists includes clothing items, canteens and grenades.”
GRENADES! Are they charging him for the ammo he used and the bandages used on his wound too?
I wonder how McCain paid for that jet he lost.
What probably happened:
1. His platoon Sgt did not turn in his equipment; dividing it among the platoon.
2. His platoon Sgt actually DID turn in the equipment, but;
a. the paperwork got lost, or screwed up.
b. a corrupt supply sergeant “lost” the paperwork to forward some larcenous plan of his own.
My guess is 2b. I had a similar scam worked on me, involving being charged for a month’s leave I hadn’t taken.
DG
Secy of Defense Gates is supposed to be so supportive of the troops. Time for him to get off his stupid ass and fix this, fast.
Obama Advisor Gen. Jones is useless.
Obama is useless. Biden is useless. So are the congressmen/women and senators in Washington State.
DOD is being emasculated by political correctness and weirdness. SO is the Navy. Just ask any submariner.
Hopefully the Marines will tell Obie to stuff it.
If you can’t kill pirates, why capture them?
Boy am I pissed.
Oh, this is going to be interesting.
BTW, IBTZ. (Unless that was /sarc, in which case you really needed the tag.)
Paperwork sh#t happens. Always has. Always will.
Nowadays, it's worse because mindless computers are handling the paperwork.
He’s got to get a 15-6 investigation started. When a Soldier is shot, his equipment is dumped at the unit or at the hospital due to the blood making it a potential biohazard. That’s just SOP. Obviously someone (cough S4 cough) didn’t do the proper paperwork on the loss and this guy is paying the price. An investigation will get his sworn statement, his commander’s sworn statment, the SIGACT of his being shot, his record of his hospital stay, and the theater SOP that I mentioned above. Any reasonable investigator will see it and a field grade should sign off on it. Done and done.
This guy’s CO or First Sergeant can’t take care of this? Man, how things have changed. Wasn’t like this when I was in with Reagan as C-in-C. I hope everyone else in his unit is aware of how their chain-of-command is treating them.
I wonder how long this has been policy - or is it just the policy of one National Guard. When I was medivaced 42 years ago (ancient history) all field gear was taken from us at the hospital and piled in a room.
I went on a FTX when stationed in South Korea. One of the pads on my carrying gear wore through and was destroyed because the strapping would not stay tight.
My buddy threw a folded cot into the back of a truck and broke the back window of the cab.
Guess which damage was written off as normal and who had to pay?
They were going to deduct the cost of my worn through gear from my pay. I can’t remember what they were going to charge me, but I couldn’t afford it.
So, I went to the street markets in Itaewon, found the exact same gear for sale cheap, and turned that in.
You could find just about any of the current military gear in those markets.
Oh, well, any veteran knows that "nothing is too good for the troops" can be said very ironically.
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