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MOMS rally to fight for combat soldier’s pay and equipment |
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Tuesday, 09 December 2008 |
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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
12-6-2008 A letter from a soldier to his mother describing inadequate conditions as he serves in Iraq has stirred the community to its core and caught the attention of Congressman Buck McKeon.
A local soldier, who asked to remain anonymous, recently told his family and former community that, as he fights in an undisclosed location in Iraq, the U.S. Army has refused to provide his squad with equipment that was “promised” them or even pay them hazard pay for serving in the combat zone.
In his letter home, the staff sergeant with the 18th Infantry Division asked that his family and anyone who is concerned for the soldiers write to their local representatives to bring the issue to light.
“We have been over here for two months and are still not getting paid our extra pay,” one letter from the soldier to his mother states. “No one with the unit is taking responsibility for the deal, they’re all just claiming they don’t know anything about it. Meanwhile they have managed to not issue out some of the equipment that should have come down to the guys that go out as well as completely failed to take care of things.”
The soldier’s mother said that the tone in his letters makes it apparent that he is not happy with the way things are going.
“Listening to him talk – he has a different attitude than he had before” when he served overseas, the soldier’s mother said.
“As for things around here, well I am sure you can tell they are pretty bad. Doing my best to keep my guys going, but we are living at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to eating, where we sleep and even trying to contact home,” the soldier said. “I won’t get too much into it, but things are pretty rough here.”
For parents of soldiers who are serving overseas, the concerns voiced by the staff sergeant have had an unsettling effect.
“Their morale is bad and they’re just not getting what they need,” said Cindy Kitts, a member of the Bishop-based Mothers of Military Servicemen Club (MOMS). “It’s kind of like putting these kids on a boat in the middle of the ocean without fuel.”
In response to the soldier’s request, the MOMS Club is asking community members to write their local representatives, requesting aid for the soldiers.
“The question is,” Kitts said, “are there any other kids in this situation that just aren’t speaking up?”
Congressman McKeon, who sists on the U.S. Armed Forces Committee that considers legislation involving the Department of Defense, has already received and reviewed letters sent from members of the MOMS Club and is working with the U.S. Army to solve the problem, McKeon press secretary Lindsey Mask, said Thursday.
Staff from McKeon’s district office, which handles requests and questions from constituents in the Eastern Sierra, has made contact with a liaison from the Army and opened dialogue about the complaints.
“The case worker told me that, at this point, the Army liaison is our next step. They’re following all the procedures for constituent cases,” Mask said. “The congressman has always put the servicemen first. His number one priority is making sure they’re safe and taken care of.”
McKeon’s staff is in the process of responding to each of the constituents who submitted letters voicing their concerns, but Mask could not say exactly what the nature of the dialogue between McKeon’s office and the Army liaison was.
“They’re going back and forth with this case. Right now they’re just waiting to hear back from the Army liaison,” she said.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 January 2009 )
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