Ex-POW's Family Accuses Army of Double Standard on Benefit

[kskiska]

AUSTIN, Oct. 23 -- Shot through both legs and held prisoner in Iraq for 22 days, Army Spec. Shoshana Johnson returned home in the spring to a difficult convalescence that lacked the media fury and official hype that attended her friend and comrade in arms, Jessica Lynch.

Depressed, scarred, haunted by the trauma of her captivity and at times unable to sleep, Johnson walks with a limp and has difficulty standing for long, according to her parents.

And now that Johnson is on the verge of her discharge from the Army, insult is being added to her injury, they say. While Lynch was discharged in August with an 80 percent disability benefit, Johnson, set to leave in the coming days, learned last week that she will receive a 30 percent disability benefit from the Army for her injuries.

The difference, which amounts to $600 or $700 a month in payments, has infuriated Johnson and her family. They have enlisted Jesse L. Jackson's help to make their case to the news media, accusing the Army of a double standard, insensitivity and racism. Lynch is white; Johnson is black.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8791-2003Oct23.html

[pansypoo53219]

1. oh baby

that is just so fucking typical.
GET THIS STORY OUT THERE for all to see!

[jab105]

2. My best to you Shoshana....

$500 aint nothin'...specially with a kid...

[sistersofmercy]

3. This story needs to be on the nightly news, one of the Dem candidates

needs to offer assistance in bringing this story to light.

[lostnfound]

4. kick

So pitiful and too typical.

[Djinn]

5. makes you wonder

if Jessica Lynch hadn't been a pretty young blonde thing would we have had to sit through the absolute bullshit spouted about her capture? would the patients and staff of An Nasiriya hospital have had to suffer through the trauma and terror of a US raid?

and why is it patriotic (in US and here at home in Aust) to send teenagers and young men and women to war on the other side of the world based on a lie but you're a traitor if you want them back, or in the case of George Galloway MP (UK) ask them to uphold the Nuremberg principles - ie if your superior gives you an illegal order you must disobey - pointing that out got George booted from the UK Labor Party. Then there's the terrible act of our local Greens leader who dared to interject Dubya speech in OUR parliament - for that he was banned from attending Parliament the next day?!?!?!?!

[ikojo]

6. Of course not...Jessica Lynch fits the stereotype of "all American'

she's from a small town and wanted to go to college to teach the chiiilllldren. Aaaaah, what is sweeter than that?

[saigon68]

7. SHE'S LILY WHITE TOO.

It's a made in America sitcom

Get those darkies out of here</sarcasm off>

The chimp govt is all about racism ---more than 30% of all Black Men between 20-26 are either in jail or prison parole or probation.

[DemVet]

14. How offensive!!!!!!

LILY WHITE? How dare you say that. I don't care what your race is or what your intent was, that does nothing but further fan the flames of racism.

[Walt Starr]

18. Well, the whole damn incident is based upon racism

Cute 'lil white girl gets everything while the real hero is a black woman who gets nothing.

That, my friend, is the story of America.

[DemVet]

19. A military disability system primer.

Real hero? For getting shot? She's a hero just as much as Jessica is, that's for sure. Neither are in my book, though both have been through quite an ordeal.

Besides, I've been through the military disability system and know how it works, something most people here can't claim. It would require me to know exactly which permanent injuries each still has before making the charge of racism. Disability ratings are assigned based on residual function for the rest of a person's life, not necessarily the actual injury sustained at the time of incident. It's quite possible, in fact and for example, for a gunshot victim to get no benefits if they make a full recovery with no lasting residual effects.

[IndianaGreen]

20. Lynch was made the darling of the Pentagon's PR machine

Lynch was made the darling of the Pentagon's PR machine and the American media while the other two women soldiers, that just happened to be Native-American and African-American, were completely ignored. Now we see that Lynch is getting 80% disability while Shoshana Johnson, a single mother from Texas, is being discharged with only 30% disability.

None of the other members of Lynch's 507th Maintenance Co. are getting a dime from the million bucks Lynch is getting for telling her non-story story (she was unconscious for most of her stay at an Iraqi hospital--she was never a POW).

[DemVet]

25. Again...

...I'm not defending the Bush regime here, but military disability is based upon residual injuries. Being a single mother or not having kids at all is irrelevant. Neither plays into the disability equation.

[wellst0nev0ter]

15. Doesn't Make Sense

The pukes coulda used Johnson and her kid for several of their contrived GOP diversity photo-ops, but instead they got themselves a shitstorm.

Repubs - can't live with them, but we have to.

[DemVet]

26. Yeah

I agree with your first statement. They could've scored points big time if they'd have played their cards right. Their loss.

[MaineDem]

8. Where's Johnson's book deal?...Her made-for-tv movie??

You know what's going to happen? The Army and the GOP will say this is a case of sour grapes and that the family is just "playing the race card" to get more. This sucks. This woman underwent more trauma than Lynch from what I understand. This is horrible.

[kainah]

13. already heard that line today on C-SPAN

One of the pretty boys from NBC -- forget which one -- was on "Washington Journal." He'd written a book about Jesse Jackson's 1984 Presidential campaign so Brian Lamb (who called her "Shawna Johnson") raised this and, essentially, the NBC pretty boy said exactly what you suggest, i.e., that this is just a silly little claim and they're throwing in racism to try to make it fly.

[Noordam]

9. Hey she is lucky,,, she could have been National Guard

and still waiting for a doctor at Fort Stewart ;(

[ninkasi]

10. I saw Rev Jackson

briefly this morning on t.v., don't remember which channel; he was pointing out the huge difference in the treatment of Shoshana and Jessica. He also stressed the fact that we are willing to spend 87 billion on rebuilding Iraq, and spoke of the many other troops who have been wounded and are haviing to wait to receive any medical care at all.

I'm glad he's speaking out about the shabby treatment of our servicemen and women. He's a voice not just for Shoshana, but for all of them.

Edit: He also mentioned parents having to buy and supply their kids with body armor. It's the first mention I've heard of it on t.v., although I was aware of it by reading DU.

[leetrisck]

11. Extra pay for POW's - has just been increased

to $1,000 per months for any pow. Anyone who was ever a POW gets extra monthly pay - I'm assuming this applies to Lynch and Johnson. Their POW pay would be the same as any former POW as far as I know. Do any of you know? Don't know why it would be different for them. Would apply to all those who were POW's this time around.

[rocktivity]

12. "Blundered" into an ambush?

When the unit blundered into an ambush near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on March 23, 11 of its soldiers were killed. Six, including Lynch and Johnson, were taken prisoner...

How does one "blunder" into an ambush? That implies that that the ambush was already in progress when the unit came across it. What was being ambushed, then--another unit? On the other hand, I suppose that writing that Johnson's unit "WAS ambushed," that would have implied that they were incompetent or something. The truth can be a real pain in the butt sometimes.


rocknation

[Mairead]

17. They didn't have scouts out?

That would certainly be a blunder

[Catherine Vincent]

16. I'd rather someone other than Jesse Jackson represent Shoshana Johnson.

I don't care much for him anymore. Why couldn't a couple of african american congressmen (or women) represent her?

[Gin]

21. Lynch is keeping a scret for the cabal....and secrets cost money...

too bad Shoshana can't hold something over their heads.

[Blue_Roses]

22. this really ticks me off

I'm so sick of hearing about Jessica Lynch. What about these people who were held prisoners. It makes me sick to think of the injustice after what she went through.

I watched a Primetime special awhile back where Stone Phillips was interviewing this group that had been held for so long. Shoshana Johnson was so articulate and bright. I was really impressed with her professionalism and how she handled herself and now to have this slap in the face.

What a disgrace.

[rl6214]

23. Shoshana Johnson IS articulate and bright

and a wonderfull person. She lives here in El Paso, TX and has been all over the various TV stations here in town. It's great to see her recovering from her wounds and getting out of the army to get on with her life. I just wish it was someone other than that media hog, publicity grabbing "reverend" that was representing, or trying to represent her.

[Zhade]

24. SCUM.

That's what the Bush Traitor Cabal is - human scum.