Connect

Stories

• Dorothy Alley Mother

  MI United States

  I am writing this letter as a concerned mother and taxpayer. I am in total disbelief and disgust by the U.S. Army’s treatment of their most prized possession; the American soldier.

  It was three years ago that my son, Aaron, came to us and expressed his interest in joining the U.S. Army. As a mother, my first instinct was to desperately try to talk him out of his decision. I would cut out articles on the war in Iraq and post them to the refrigerator; making it a point to let him know how many soldiers were killed in action to date. I could not fathom my oldest son being a part of this madness. There wasn’t a day that went by after his decision was expressed to us that I did not cry. At one point I grabbed his face and said “if you can look me in the eye and tell me that you are willing to leave the safety of your home, the arms of your family and his then girlfriend (now wife) behind I will stop trying to talk you out of this decision.” He then grabbed my face and said, “mom, there is a war going on and I want to be a part of it.” I hugged him and told him that I supported his decision and would no longer try to talk him out of it. I knew then that my son was destined to serve his country and would proudly wear the uniform of a U.S. Soldier. He signed up as a Calvary scout and at that point his father and I both knew he was destined to go to Iraq.

  In February 2007, Aaron became part of the surge that deployed to Iraq. Three months into his deployment (he was stationed in war torn Dora) Aaron was a part of a grenade attack, which killed a small Iraqi child, injured his lieutenant (he was shipped to Germany for his injuries) as well as Aaron. Aaron was left with shrapnel imbedded in his body. Most came out but one piece is still lodged between his shoulder blade and rotator cuff. This last piece of shrapnel has left Aaron in constant pain. He is no longer able to perform the duties of a Calvary scout. He cannot fire a rifle; participate in pt or perform any of the other physical aspects of his job related duties. His remaining time in Iraq, he was put on desk duty. The few times I would get to speak to him; he mentioned how useless he felt; that this was not why he came to Iraq. He wanted his injuries addressed so he could perform the duties he was trained in. After all this, while still in Iraq, Aaron signed up for an additional five years with the army. He requested (upon his return to the states) that he be moved from his home base of fort riley Kansas to fort Knox Kentucky. I believe now that getting him to sign up for five additional years while still in Iraq was part of someone’s bonus plan; a quota needed to be met and Aaron was part of that quota. After all, they knew he was not 100and suffering from a war related injury yet they agreed to his keep him on for five more years? This makes no sense. Somebody benefited from this but it sure wasn’t Aaron.

  Aaron has been state side since May of 2008. He has since moved to fort Knox Kentucky. He was initially told the plan was for him to assist in training incoming recruits. He would attend training classes and then be assigned his duty station. Apparently fort Knox did not know that Aaron sustained injuries. He has been told that fort riley should have addressed these issued before sending him to fort Knox. Aaron now is being moved from one odd job to the next. I spoke to him yesterday and he told me that he is suffering from depression as a result of not being able to fulfill his duties. His pain keeps him up at night and when he does fall asleep he experiences nightmares. He wakes up in shaking in a cold sweat. I should also note that before he left fort riley, he had an MRI. The technician told Aaron the MRI was useless because the shrapnel just showed up as a smudge on the print. Upon his arrival at fort Knox, he was told he will need an MRI. Aaron stated that he had one right before he left fort riley. They responded that his records did not indicate that he had one so another one was necessary. Who is paying for this…taxpayers dollars at good use! Aaron has also been told that while they are in the process of making their decision on what direction they are taking with him; he will experience some days where they have nothing for him to do; again, taxpayer dollars being put to good use?!?!?! I should also note that Aaron has seen a psychiatrist (one visit) for his depression. He is being proactive. He said he recognizes the fact that he is depressed and he want to address the issue head on. The psychiatrist handed Aaron a prescription for Seroquel that will help him to sleep. Aaron took one dose and it knocked him right out. The next day his wife looked up the prescription and discovered it is for bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia! Aaron has another appointment next week and is taking the prescription back to the “doctor” and asking, “what were you thinking?”

  After a year and four months, Aaron’s injury has still not been properly addressed. At one point he was told that surgery was the absolute last resort for a resolution to this problem. Surgery would result in a year to a year and a half of physical therapy and they want to avoid that scenario. They have told him that their decision would be one of three scenarios; process him out of the army with an honorable discharge (discard him!!!), change his MOS (still has the shrapnel in his shoulder and still experiencing the pain!!!), or surgery (last resort as previously mentioned).

  My son is a strong willed, focused individual. Here is a young man who willingly put his life on the line for his country, witnessed several of his close friends get blown to pieces, fought hard for what he believed in, made sergeant in two and a half years time, signed up for an additional five years!!!! And now is being treated as if he is worthless. He is one of how many soldiers that are experiencing this horrific treatment? By the way, my son was selected for the army strong promotion. He is on their website, in magazine ads and also can be spotted on their television promotion. I love the motto, “you made them strong, we’ll make them army strong” what a joke that turned out to be!

  Dorothy alley Proud mother of a U.S. Soldier

Comments

• Jim McKendrick about 2 years ago

  Well stated Dorothy and I'm really sorry to hear that Aaron has had to go through all of nthat to serve our country.