old SP5 Bob, and the Blogosphere, Share Their Feelings with Congressman Bill Young (R-FL) over the Walter Reed Rats & Roaches Festival

U.S. Representative C.W. Bill Young
(Republican, Florida)
photo: Associated Press

BREAKING NEWS FLASH BULLETIN THIS JUST IN
from Agence Vleeptron-Presse

U.S. Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey just submitted his resignation to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. In a Pentagon news conference, Gates announced he had accepted the resignation.

Gates did NOT add: "It is with a sense of personal regret ..."

I CAN'T BELIEVE Harvey made the new command appointment to Walter Reed without first asking his boss Gates if it sat right with him. It sat Very Wrong with Gates, who is in desperate Damage Control Mode to contain one of the most damaging and politically infuriating scandals ever to leak pus from George W. Bush's White House.

Harvey's pick for temporary commander of Walter Reed had been 3-star Army Surgeon General Kevin C. Kiley. But before moving up to become Army Surgeon General, Kiley had been the previous commander of Walter Reed -- on whose watch the cockroaches and the rats began sharing outpatient slum barracks with Iraq/Afghanistan soldiers, and Walter Reed hadn't done anything to reverse the collapse of the outpatient soldier programs.

The Army's standard apology is that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars swamped Walter Reed with a surprisingly large number of soldiers who needed intensive medical care and rehabilitation, and Walter Reed just hadn't been prepared for the war's ferocious generation of wounded soldiers.

Like, preparing an Army hospital for the prompt medical consequences of a big, violent war was an all-new surprise Doh Thing for the administrators of the military medicine machine. Walter Reed Hospital opened in 1909, and has been treating combat casualties through World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the First Iraq War, Somalia, Grenada, Haiti, the Balkans, and now Afghanistan and the Second Iraq War.

Gates has also yanked Kiley's new appointment, and has instead appointed Maj. (2-star) Gen. Eric R. Schoomaker to command Walter Reed. Schoomaker is the brother of Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the retiring Army chief of staff.

In both the BBC TV and NBC Nightly News coverage, the question was pointedly asked: Did Harvey jump, or was he pushed? Both correspondents placed big bets on Pushed.
======================

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Merkin
To: Bill.Young@mail.house.gov
Sent: 3/2/2007 3:47:02 PM
Subject: RESEND WITH STREET ADDRESS [was:] Your shameful role in Walter Reed's shame

U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington DC

Congressman Young:

As a Vietnam-era Army veteran, I thank God every day -- this is no exaggeration -- that I have never had to depend on the Tender Mercies of Army or VA/DVA medicine.

I was born, grew up and was drafted in Washington DC. For my whole life in DC, I was taught to believe that Walter Reed was one of the greatest hospitals in the world, and the care Walter Reed provided to President Eisenhower and Saudi Arabian royalty was the same top-quality care it routinely provided to every wounded or sick American soldier.

Now I thank God I never had to depend on your Congressional scrutiny of Walter Reed.

You were obligated to make yourself into a loud, angry, incessant Congressional busybody whenever you suspected our soldiers were getting anything less than the best from military medicine.

But you tired of bothering the Army and the DoD about what you saw at Walter Reed. You didn't want to make a nuisance of yourself with the brass, and you didn't want to alienate your buddies in the Republican White House. You were polite, courteous, professional, a Team Player -- and our soldiers sleep in urine and have to have their rooms cockroach-bombed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

DoD just wanted you to go away and stop annoying them.

And you did.

Now I'd like you to go away. Soldiers and Marines are returning from two wars and need and deserve America's best medical care. We're going to need a very different member of Congress to make sure they get it.

Sincerely,

Robert Merkin
[Northampton Massachusetts]

SP5 U.S. Army 1969-1971
Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct, National Defense Service Medal

=======================

The St. Petersburg Times (Florida USA)
Friday 2 March 2007

Young faces fury
in vets' scandal

After a newspaper report, the frequent
visitor to wounded soldiers
is assailed online for inaction.

by Bill Adair

WASHINGTON -- Rep. C.W. Bill Young and his wife, Beverly, have spent hundreds of hours helping wounded soldiers and Marines. They've provided money and gifts and even changed a law so that wounded soldiers would not have to pay for their hospital meals.

But on a day when an Army general in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center lost his job because of outrage over shoddy conditions, the Youngs were brought into the growing controversy. In the blogosphere and in the online journal Slate, people asked whether the Indian Shores Republican had done enough.

The questions were prompted by a Washington Post story Thursday that said Young stopped visiting the wounded in 2004 at Walter Reed because he was frustrated with the response to his complaints about poor medical care.

Daniel Politi, a Slate columnist, wrote that he "wonders why Rep. Young didn't tell his colleagues in Congress about these frustrations. If he did, why didn't they do anything?" Many people posted similar comments on the Buzz, a St. Petersburg Times political blog.

In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, the congressman and his wife said the Post gave an incomplete account of their activities at Walter Reed. They said the Post, which uncovered moldy, rat-infested rooms in outpatient dormitories, made it appear that the Youngs were aware of those problems. But Young said that his complaints were focused on inpatient care and that he notified Army officials about them.

He said he was frustrated that some of those problems were not fixed, but "I have never suggested that Walter Reed is in crisis."

The congressman said that "Walter Reed, in general, provides good medical care."

Passionate defense

Beverly Young posted a passionate defense of their activities on the Buzz.

"I have given most of my time and all of my energy to making a better life for the wounded returning home," she wrote. "We have never once turned our backs on a soldier in need."

Young's sons, Rob, 30, and Patrick, 19, chimed in with their own postings.

"Wow, what gives any of you the right to bash my father or my mother? What have any of you done for the veterans?" Patrick wrote.

Rob took the unusual position that his parents were "almost pathological" about the wounded and spent too much time helping them.

"I am sick of the way my parents spend all of their free time going from vets hospital to military hospital and back again, helping and personally financing wounded veterans to the exclusion of everything else," Rob wrote.

Beverly Young verified the authenticity of the comments and said Rob has been unhappy that she and the congressman have missed many family events because of their hospital visits.

Beverly Young said that during their visits to Walter Reed a soldier with a head injury repeatedly fell out of his bed. One soldier's surgery had to be delayed because of broken equipment.

The Youngs said that they complained to Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, who headed the hospital and is now the Army's surgeon general, and that they were not satisfied with his response. They said they complained to other Army officials.

Rep. Young, who at the time was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he did not hold hearings or complain in a press release.

"I don't do my business through the press," he said.

But Young said he was "offended" recently when Kiley blamed his subordinates for the Walter Reed problems.

"He was the boss and had been told about many of these problems by Beverly and by me," said Young, who is now the senior Republican on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. "I think he should be held accountable."

Another firing?

Beverly Young went a step farther.

Kiley "should be fired because of his lack of commitment to his troops," she said.

Kiley did not return a telephone call Thursday, but Army spokesman Paul Boyce said, "We have an ongoing action plan that we're looking at and we're addressing concerns as they come to our attention. We continue to take corrective action as items come to our attention that need to be fixed."

Thursday morning, the Army announced that Maj. Gen. George Weightman, commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, had been fired because "the senior Army leadership had lost trust and confidence in the commander's leadership abilities" to fix the problems at Walter Reed.

Kiley, who as [Army] surgeon general oversees all medical care, will temporarily serve as the Walter Reed commander.

- 30 -

Washington Bureau Chief Bill Adair can be reached at adair@sptimes.com or 202 463-0575.

=============

comments beneath whitenoiseinsanity blog post
gen-kiley-of-walter-reed-also-needs-a-pink-slip/

17 Responses to “Gen. Kiley of Walter Reed also needs a pink slip”

1. Christopher Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:25 pm

No human being (except Bush or Cheney) should have to lay in their own body waste. This is an incredible comment on how far this country has sunk since the 2000 stolen election.

2. kayinmaine Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:42 pm

It’s an abomination to the illegal occupation that they’ve told the young people of our nation to serve. If I’m not mistaken, Bush has said to them “to do something higher than yourself” (or something to that effect). Asshole! And this is how they’re treated when they do? Disgusting. As a mother, I would be outraged if that was my son laying in his own urine!!! You wouldn’t be able to tear my hands from Kiley’s neck…

3. smoke Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:45 pm

[ * ]

from A-blog

4. mirth Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:46 pm

Hi Christopher!

Bush & Cheney = human being…does not compute.

Kay, I’ll bet there are a bunch of Mothers wanting to do just that.

5. kayinmaine Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:48 pm

Woohoo Mirth! It’s the mothers of this nation who get shit done. :-)

6. kayinmaine Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:49 pm

Thanks Smoke. I just put the link in the main post as an update. I loooooove Louise Slaughter! She’s another great democrat. :-)

7. smoke Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pm

i’m fond of mothers 8)

8. smoke Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm

[ * ]

9. kayinmaine Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:58 pm

Awesome Smoke! Waxman is the man too!

I’m having trouble uploading pictures Smoke for some reason! I’m working on it though. :-)

10. kayinmaine Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:59 pm

I’m fond of Smokesters. :lol:

11. VleeptronDude Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:00 pm

from today’s NY Times article:
=========
A Pentagon official said that, in addition to General Weightman, a captain, two noncommissioned officers, and an enlisted soldier involved in outpatient treatment were being reassigned. He said he could not provide further information because of Defense Department confidentiality rules.
==========

Thanks for feeling outraged at this. I’m an Army vet, and Thank God never had to accept the Tender Mercies of Army or VA medicine.

In government circles, particularly Congress for the last 10 or 15 years, US military veterans are regarded as and referred to as Entitlement Bums leeching our tax dollars. Cutting veteran medical care from the federal budget is a very politically popular chop with both parties.

But Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, Somalia, Grenada, Iraq and maybe next month Iran … when we rattle our sabre and strike up the Patriotic Military Band to send these young men and women to some violent, deadly pesthole, we call them Our Heroes, and Nothing’s too good for them!

When they come back with PTSD, Agent Orange, or an amputated limb, nothing’s about what the American people think they should get for the rest of their lives.

This war’s Agent Orange medical neglect will be troop exposure to the metal that’s replaced lead in ordnance: DU or Depleted Uranium. Our Heroes will be developing cancer clusters in the decades to come, and the military and VA health systems will erect a Wall Of Denial throughout those decades.

Thanks for caring! Sick and wounded and chronically psychiatrically affected veterans are a built-in consequence of Going To War, and it’s about time American voters matured, put down their G.I. Joe Action Figures, and looked beyond the screaming warhawks on Fox, to consider carefully the post-war lifetimes of vets and their families, and how American treats them.

My blog take on this:

http://vleeptronz.blogspot.com/2007/03/2-star-medico-yutz-tossed-from-command.html

Oh yeah, just saw your impeachment line below this Comment window. Please explain to me one more time why Pelosi said “Impeachment is not on the table.” I’m a dummy, I don’t get it.

12. smoke Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:03 pm

my friend is gonna pick me up and haul my gimpy ass to the local volunteer fire department fish fry

will check back in later 8)

13. kayinmaine Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:14 pm

Okay Smoke. LOL Have fun! Sounds like a good time. ;-)

14. clif Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:25 pm

A for compensation and treatement of the wounded vets FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES, no pentagon budget planner wants that large a fiscal responsibility hanging on their budget for 30-40 years, so they create a bureaucracy that makes the soldier just accept what ever they offer to get out of “medical hold”

(Which is their term for it.)

I know I spent almost a year in medical hold after Desert Storm. All the while the bureaucrats kept telling me just sign your disability and the VA will take care of you, what they never told me was even though my initial claim was submitted in 1992, the VA did not settle it until 1999, and I had the help of the Disabled american Veterans and understood exactly how regulations and the US government Title 10 (which is the controlling Law for the Pentagon) and Title 38(Which is the controlling Law of the VA).

Which meant I could read and argue with their interpretation of the governing Federal regulations they were supposed to be following. In the end the VA had, violated 9 separate areas of Title 38, and I have NO idea of how many sections the Military violated, because I knew that fighting the Military was futile.

However the army tried to tell me that part of my disability pre-existed my deployment, even though I had had a commissioning Physical and deployment physical before My deployment which did NOT show any such disability, and after my Time in the Gulf War I had definitely had those medical problems.

I can’t imaging what these young enlisted personnel go through given the fact they were never trained in dealing with government regulations and how to interpret then like I was, and the fact most of The wounded did not have the years of experience’s understanding no decision is final until the highest ranking authority had ruled on it, the local bureaucrat is just the first link in that chain of denial not the final authority.

That is why the military does not make it easy, cause if it was easy AND FAIR, the military would have to take some of the money they pay big greedy defense contractors and pay the deserving soldiers and Marines what is rightfully theirs. It is easier to create an obfuscated process which wears the individual soldier down and toss the buck to the VA which is a separate executive agency and has it’s own arcane rules of denials and obfucation.
15. kayinmaine Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:48 pm

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us Clif! This is why we love you. You’re a soldier who has served, who was injured, and who deserves all the respect in the world.

You’re right about money going to the defense contractors rather than our soldiers. I’m so sick of it!!!

16. VleeptronDude Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:05 pm

Yo Cliff, thanks for an extraordinarily nasty, creepy, miserable tale of caring for our combat soldiers and vets. I hope I have some tranquilizers in the medicine chest.

During the Cold War, the USA and Soviet Union had a fundamental dispute about how much each nation spent on Defense/War. The Soviet Union included Veteran Care in their Defense Buget, the USA did not. So the USA could point (but not accurately) to the USSR’s alarmingly greater spending on war.

Well, the Commies were spending billions extra on war’s inevitable consequence: thousands of lifetimes of medical care and veterans assistance.

Saint Bob of Toyota (that’s me) has been volunteering at local homeless shelters for 15 years. All homeless are welcome from all backgrounds and for all reasons.

But most nights for the “hot and the cot”, it might just as well be an Old Vets Reunion, from one Korea guy to tons of Vietnam guys to Desert Storm.

I’m terrified to meet the first Iraq/Afghanistan homeless vets — but I know they’re coming, like I know the Sun’s coming up tomorrow morning.

Homeless shelters seem to have a huge attraction for young and aging military veterans. Ditto alcoholism, addiction, divorce, suicide, jail and prison, untreated psychiatric conditions.

America needs to grow up. If America wants or if America truly needs a war, that’s the moment to start planning and building and budgeting for the war’s wounded and for the war’s veterans.

Jeez — Standard Official American Patriotism always seems to have these big holes and blind spots. They got the flag-waving and they got the parades down. They do the Shock and Awe pretty well, and it makes thrilling images and noises on CNN.

It’s the lives of those who fight the wars they never seem to get.

SP5 Bob
USA 1969-1971

PS. The luckiest thing in my life has been never having to depend on the Tender Mercies of Army or VA/DVA medicine. Trying to do a little community college on the GI bill was crazy Kafka VA bureaucracy torment enough.

Check out http://vleeptronz.blogspot.com/
gonna write and post more about this nasty Walter Reed scoundrel’s business.

17. mirth Says:
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm

Whew!
Thanks to both Clif and Vleeptronz for these comments!