Join the National Guard, Spend Two Years in Iraq, Get Stabbed in the Back

This is how the Far Right “supports” the troops:

2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard spent almost two years deployed in Iraq. It was the longest deployment of any ground combat unit.

When they returned to the States, they found out that they were — JUST BARELY — not qualified for the educational benefits they thought they'd be receiving under the G.I. Bill.

In order to receive the G.I. Bill and other benefits, this unit would have had to be gone for 730 days. By the sheerest of coincidences, they were gone for only 729 days. Sorry — Disqualified! Move along, nothing to see here.

1st Lt. Jon Anderson said “It's pretty much a slap in the face. I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers…I had 23 guys under my command. I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved."

Anderson’s fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, said “I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home.”

So far the Army hasn’t responded to any questions about this.