Soldier feels abandoned by government after losing arm

[bluestateguy]

Just think, someday this guy can run for office as a Democrat while his Republican chickenhawk opponent (who is today probably getting boozed up in his frat house) calls him unpatriotic and "weak on defense".


http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/170930

Great Bend — Kris Atherton says he knows from experience that the U.S. government wasn't ready to deal with military veterans wounded in Iraq.

Atherton, 24, of Great Bend, retired from the Army after losing his left arm last July while driving a Humvee in Baghdad. An artillery explosion shattered the bones in his arms and shook his confidence that his government was prepared to deal with the wounded.

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Atherton was treated in hospitals in Kuwait and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. While he was learning to live with one arm, he also was trying to figure out how to get by on less money, the difference between the Army payroll and the Veterans Affairs disability payroll.

He also found out that because he retired after losing his arm, he also lost his right to stay in government housing. He and his wife, Heather, and their daughter, Mikia, are moving next week to Atherton's hometown of South Prairie, Wash.

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[Karenina]

1. American citizens

who have served in the military are getting SO SCREWED!!! :cry:

[Straight Shooter]

2. Only 24 years old.

Atherton is learning the hard way that the effects of lying last forever. I hope somehow he finds a way to adjust, and has friends and family to see him through.

buck fush