Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) revealed
the Pentagon is telling wounded soldiers returning from Iraq
and Afghanistan
repay bonuses as big as $10,000 for not
finishing their service commitment.
"They're shocked and there's a sense of betrayal,"
Schumer said at a news conference Sunday in Manhattan.
"Everyone knows the Army is a huge agency and sometimes the left arm
doesn't know what the right hand is doing but ... this one tops the cake in terms
of its unbelievability."
The issue surfaced earlier this month when a soldier who was
partially blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq told media outlets that the
Army asked him to repay $2,800 of his $7,500 enlistment bonus because he had
only completed about a year of his three-year service.
Former Pfc. Jordan Fox, 21,
of Pittsburgh, received the bill in
late October and a week later received a notice that he could be charged
interest if he didn't make a payment within 30 days.
The Army says Fox's case is an "isolated incident" and a
simple clerical error. But at his press conference Senator Schumer said many New
York veterans have called his office and reported
similar problems.
Wounded veterans whose bonuses have been revoked can call
the Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline at 800-984-8523.