Navy SEAL who killed bin Laden left in poverty with no pension, healthcare or protection
The US Navy SEAL who personally shot to death former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden says he has been neglected by the US government. The poverty-stricken ex-commando is now struggling to feed his family and pay for healthcare.
Despite killing America's most wanted man, the US Navy SEAL referred to only as “the Shooter” has transitioned back to a civilian life plagued by poverty. The Shooter, who remains anonymous, retired from the SEALs in September 2012, thirty-six months before the 20-year requirement for retirement benefits.
And the government makes no exceptions when it comes to retirement benefits – not even for one of the Americans responsible for striking the most crushing blow against al-Qaeda.
“What is (hard) to understand is that a man with hundreds of successful war missions, one of the most decorated combat veterans of our age, who capped his career by terminating bin Laden, has no landing pad in civilian life,” writes Phil Bronstein, Executive Chair of the Center for Investigative Reporting, for Esquire.
Aside from remaining anonymous and therefore lacking recognition from the American public, the US government appears to have forgotten the Shooter’s significance in the raid that killed the most wanted terrorist. Without a pension, healthcare, or any sort of government protection, the Shooter has been left in the dark by the agency he dedicated his life to.
Unsympathetically, he was told to look for a job driving a truck to make enough money to scrape by.
“(SEAL command) told me they could get me a job driving a beer truck in Milwaukee,” the Shooter said. Such a job would be a substantial downgrade from both his status and estimated $54,000 salary as a Navy SEAL.
Left without retirement benefits, the Shooter is now purchasing a private health insurance plan for $486 per month, which provides minimal coverage and fails to cover his chiropractic care.
“My health care for me and my family stopped,” he said. “I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no. You’re out of service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen years. Go f*ck yourself.”
The US government provides 18- days of transitional healthcare benefits, but only those who agree to remain on active duty or become a “reservist”. And it will take at least eight months before he can make requests for disability payments. Although the US government put a $25 million bounty on bin Laden, no one has ever collected the money and the Shooter now lives in poverty.
Finding another job is not so easy for the retired SEAL: due to his anonymity, he cannot disclose his work experience to other employers. Even though friends and family members put in recommendations for him with employers they know, they cannot tell anyone that the Shooter was part of SEAL Team 6.
The SEALs struggles contradict the statement US President Barack Obama made on Veteran’s Day about those who serve the country.
“No one who fights for this country overseas should ever have to fight for a job,” Obama said. “Or a roof over their head, or the care that they have earned when they come home.”
But the Shooter is fighting – financially, physically and emotionally. With a body full of scars, arthritis, tendonitis, eye damage and blown disks, the SEAL is in desperate need of medical care.
“Is this how America treats its heroes?” Bronstein writes. “The ones President Obama called ‘the best of the best’? The ones Vice-President Biden called ‘the finest warriors in the history of the world?”
And the Shooter is just one of about 1.3 million veterans – about one in 10 – and 0.9 million family members who are currently uninsured, despite their years of service.
“(Bin Laden) crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed. He was dead. I watched him take his last breaths,” the Shooter recalls. “And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: Is this the best thing I’ve ever done, or the worst thing I’ve ever done?”
The administration considers bin Laden’s death one of its greatest achievements. But for the Shooter, life has become a struggle.
discipline posted:I was looking at a homeless dude on the tube today
either you can suddenly afford a TV or you've been grieviously anglicised
any Troop that's gotten out since 2003 gets to sign up with the VA for free health care for a minimum of 5 years. just to rub it in, VA health care actually has superior ratings and statistics than the average in the US as well. but unfortunately the VA only practices "evidence based" medicine, so even the comforting hand of big brother socialism will cruelly cast him aside forced to seek his critical life sustaining chiropractic care in the cold, mean streets of the Free Market
Groulxsmith posted:I don't know, I don't take great pleasure in seeing anyone's family pushed into penury. Ultimately is there a difference between a scoffing leftist who sees the baby killer finally getting his, and the capitalist who attributes his problems to a slightly different personal failure? Maybe we should sympathize with all who are victims of an amoral political and economic system rather than applaud its punitive aspects in selective ways
nope
Groulxsmith posted:I don't know, I don't take great pleasure in seeing anyone's family pushed into penury. Ultimately is there a difference between a scoffing leftist who sees the baby killer finally getting his, and the capitalist who attributes his problems to a slightly different personal failure? Maybe we should sympathize with all who are victims of an amoral political and economic system rather than applaud its punitive aspects in selective ways
viewing him as a victim of a political and economic system and viewing him as a baby killer that deserved to get fucked over arent mutually exclusive
http://cironline.org/node/4139
Goethestein posted:victim: able-bodied heterosexual white male in the first world
you've finally become that which you hated most: one of those weird fetishist tumblr social justice goons who posted at wddp. congrats.
AmericanNazbro posted:Goethestein posted:victim: able-bodied heterosexual white male in the first world
you've finally become that which you hated most: one of those weird fetishist tumblr social justice goons who posted at wddp. congrats.
congrats. 'grats. *shakes a confused stranger's hand* congrats! congratulation!
Goethestein posted:victim: able-bodied heterosexual white male in the first world
http://www.mintpress.net/whos-joining-the-us-military-poor-women-and-minorities-targeted/
my hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that minorities are more likely to join the military for job security and benefits, thus disproportionately moving them away from combat roles, while whites are more likely to join for reasons of sociopathy or racist bloodlust, making those roles more attractive.
E: this is my attempt at a liberals next move
Edited by GayDebord ()
Lykourgos posted:how do you get a substantial downgrade from a $54k salary lmao
trying to find a job with the skills you learned in the armed services
stegosaurus posted:Dude Who Fired At Bin Laden And Missed Doing Just Fine, Sources Report
The Pentagon is creating a new high-level military medal that will recognize drone pilots and, in a controversial twist, giving it added clout by placing it above some traditional combat valor medals in the military's "order of precedence."
The Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, offensive cyber war experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations but who are not physically in theater and facing the physical risks that warfare historically entails.
The new medal will rank just below the Distinguished Flying Cross. It will have precedence over -- and be worn on the uniform above -- the Bronze Star with Valor device, a medal awarded to troops for specific heroic acts performed under fire in combat.
The new medal is a brass pendant, nearly 2-inches tall, with a laurel wreath that circles a globe. An eagle is in the center. The ribbon has blue, red and white stripes.
"This award recognizes the reality of the kind of technological warfare we are engaged in the 21st century," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
The new medal will be awarded for specific acts, such as the successful targeting of a particular individual at a critical time.
"Our military reserves its highest decorations obviously for those who display gallantry and valor in actions when their lives are on the line, and we will continue to do so," Panetta said.
"But we should also have the ability to honor the extraordinary actions that make a true difference in combat operations," Panetta said. "The contribution they make does contribute to the success of combat operations, particularly when they remove the enemy from the field of battle, even if those actions are physically removed from the fight."
The service secretaries will make the final determination for awarding the Distinguished Warfare Medal.
The order of precedence came as a surprise to Doug Sterner, a military medals expert and the curator of the Military Times Hall of Valor, the largest database of military medal recipients.
"It's got me puzzled," Sterner said Wednesday. "I understand the need to recognize the guys at the console who are doing some pretty important things. But to see it ranking above the Bronze Star (with) V?"
The medal will also be awarded those who carry out successful "cyberattacks"
Flying in, we were all just sort of in our own world. My biggest concern was having to piss really bad and then having to get off in a fight needing to pee. We actually had these things made for us, like a combination collapsible dog bowl and diaper. I still have mine; I never used it. I used one of my water bottles instead. I forgot until later that when I shot bin Laden in the face, I had a bottle of piss in my pocket.
"Three of us were driving to our first briefing on the mission," he said. "We were thinking maybe it was Libya, but we knew there would be very high-level brass there. One of my guys says, 'I bet it's bin Laden.'" Another guy told the Shooter, "If it's Osama bin Laden, dude, I will suck yo' dick."
"So after I shoot UBL, I bring him over to see his body. 'Okay,' I told him, 'now is as good a time as any.'"
http://www.esquire.com/features/man-who-shot-osama-bin-laden-0313