Greyhawk says it’s boycott time. There’s contact info at the link if you’re so inclined. This isn’t the first time they’ve tried black humor in this vein, but in this case as in the last, I think people are misreading them. It’s not a joke on wounded soldiers, as I take it, but a joke on the Pentagon placing unfair demands on the wounded to compensate for the manpower shortage.
The opposing view, from reader Chuck Ziegenfuss at Blackfive’s site:
I am a combat vetrean who was wounded in 2005, while servnig in Iraq. The severity of my wounds resulted in the partial amputation of my left hand, as well as nerve damage to my left hand, skin grafts on 20% of my body, traumatic brain injury, and multiple shrapnel scars. One of the first questions I asked my doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was “When can I go back?” That question is asked by most of the wounded who lay in those beds. Man and women who often have multiple limbs missing. It is to the credit of the Department of Defense that they realize that the injury does not define the person, and if they choose to continue to serve, the Military will keep them. Of the 300 million people in our nation, less than two million serve in the Armed forces. Over 30,000 have been wounded in combat. Many have suffered horrible injuries and founght to regain the use of damaged limbs, or struggled through pain to learn to use their prosthetic quickly, so they can return to duty and continue to serve. We do this because we believe in what we are doing, and we believe in the military as a team. We follow our the Warrior ethos, which reads: I am an American Soldier. I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit… Even if you don’t believe in the mission, or pe ou nagree with the war in Iraq of Afghanistan, who are you to call them “stumpy” or make fun of their disabilities? I hope you and your families never have to experience the pain I have felt in the service of my country, or know the sacrifices my family has made while I serve. I hope you never have to look upon your son or daughter, or your brother or sister, or your husband or wife as the lay in a hospital bed, missing their arms and legs, and know that a nationally-read website, even one dedicated to humor and satire, has chosen them to be their target of derision.
Update: Two belated corrections. One, it was Greyhawk’s wife who posted the Onion item, not GH, and two, Chuck Ziegenfuss is actually a milblogger himself, not (just) a Blackfive reader. Sorry for the mistakes.
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