Soldier Charged For Body Armor Was A Mistake

A young soldier injured in Iraq and medically discharged was charged $700 for his body armor and other gear. Elected officials and military brass are looking into the matter. As terrible as this sounds the act was a mistake. There was no willful intent by the Army to make a guy pay for gear lost in battle. In the Army soldiers are issued gear that they sign for. They are responsible for the gear and if they damage it through abuse or lose it they are required to pay for it. There are exceptions for items lost as a result of combat.

1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV was injured in combat and his gear was removed and later incinerated by the Army. He is not financially responsible for the gear because it was lost as a result of combat. Some overly zealous supply person charged him for it when he was being discharged from the Army. He paid in order to prevent delaying his discharge. If he had more time he could have cleared this up.

The matter will ultimately be decided in his favor and he will receive a refund of his money. It was simply a mistake by someone who either did not know or was not well trained. In any event, it was not willful. There have been donations made to LT Rebrook but he will donate the money to charity and to someone who lost a house in Katrina (the person’s son helped save his life).

Before people go off the deep end they should remember that this was a mistake. I keep saying it because people will look at this and fill Snopes with more urban legends. LT Rebrook has no ill will:

“I understand what they were saying, but from my perspective it was a hard pill to swallow,” Rebrook said Tuesday.

Despite the “bureaucratic snafu,” as Rebrook calls it, he holds no grudges. “I love the Army,” Rebrook said. “I love my soldiers. I loved being in it.”

Source: wvgazette

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