February 08, 2006
Army blasted over soldier’s body armor
Sympathizers raise nearly $6,000 to repay Army for missing
item
By Eric Eyre
Staff writer
http://wvgazettemail.com/section/News/2006020719?pt=0
West Virginia’s two U.S. senators asked top military leaders Tuesday to explain
why 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV had to reimburse the U.S. Army $700 last
week for body armor and other gear damaged after he was seriously wounded by a
roadside bomb in Iraq.
More than 200 people —from West Virginia and across the country — donated more
than $5,700 to Rebrook after reading about his body armor payment to the Army.
Rebrook, 25, who was medically discharged from an army base in Fort Hood, Texas,
last week, said he wouldn’t keep the donations. He’s passing along the money to
charity and a Louisiana woman who lost her home in Hurricane Katrina. He said
the woman’s son helped save his life in Iraq.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., sent a letter to Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld Tuesday, demanding that the Army refund Rebrook’s money immediately.
“I was outraged this morning when I read the story about what happened to
Eddie,” said Rockefeller, who nominated Rebrook for admission to the U.S.
Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., when Rebrook attended George Washington
High School in Charleston. “I’m heartbroken that he can’t continue his career,
and I’m shocked that he has been treated this way by our military.”
At a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., asked why Rebrook
was forced to pay for body armor damaged when he was wounded in Iraq.
“How can it be that the Army is charging wounded soldiers for replacing damaged
body armor? Is this standard practice?” Byrd asked during a Senate Armed
Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense’s 2007 budget.
Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army’s chief of staff, attended the
hearing.
“That is a very unusual story,” Schoomaker responded. “I have no idea why we
would ever do something like that. We have issued body armor, the very best that
exists in the world. Every soldier has it.
“We certainly have procedures that account for battle loss, and I just find it a
highly unusual story. But we’ll certainly follow up and correct it if there’s
any truth to it.”
“First Cavalry Division leadership is going to do everything to ensure this
issue is brought to a conclusion that is both in line with procedures that apply
to all its soldiers and in the best interest of our veterans who have served so
proudly and honorably in Iraq,” Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, the division's
spokesman at Fort Hood, told the Killeen Daily Herald for today’s edition.
Bleichwehl said soldiers are not held financially responsible for any equipment
lost, damaged or destroyed in combat.
Rebrook said he borrowed $700 from his buddies to pay back the U.S. Army for the
destroyed body armor and gear. He plans to pay them back out of his own pocket.
A Charleston radio station, WKWS-FM 96.1, raised $700 for Rebrook in less than
an hour Tuesday morning. One woman hand-delivered a check for $350 to the radio
station Tuesday.
“We read the story on the air, and the phones started ringing,” said the
station’s Mike Fitzgerald.
The bulk of money for Rebrook was raised Tuesday after the soldier’s story was
posted on americablog.com, a popular liberal political blog.
Donations ranged from $1 to $400, said John Aravosis, who runs the Internet blog.
More than 187 people gave money. About 200 people posted to the blog.
“Everybody thinks liberals hate soldiers,” Aravosis said. “But the majority of
people get that it’s not right to abuse our troops.”
Rebrook’s right arm was shattered in an explosion while he was standing in the
turret of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in January 2005. Field medics removed his
body armor, and it was later incinerated, Rebrook said. A Black Hawk helicopter
airlifted him to a combat support hospital in Baghdad.
Rebrook, who graduated with honors from West Point, said he was never given any
records that documented the body armor loss.
When he turned in his gear last week, Rebrook said he was told to pay nearly
$700 or face not being discharged for weeks. The bill included a $570 charge for
his Kevlar vest and gear destroyed in battle, and $130 for other lost items.
Rebrook said he was asked to provide statements from witnesses that he lost his
body armor in battle.
He said he thought he could write a memo, explaining that the body armor was
stripped from him after he was injured. But that wasn’t sufficient, he learned
last week.
“I understand what they were saying, but from my perspective it was a hard pill
to swallow,” Rebrook said Tuesday.
Despite the “bureaucratic snafu,” as Rebrook calls it, he holds no grudges. “I
love the Army,” Rebrook said. “I love my soldiers. I loved being in it.”
Dozens of Charleston Gazette readers called the newspaper and sent e-mails,
criticizing the Army and praising Rebrook for his service in Iraq. Some readers
offered to pay Rebrook for the entire cost of his body armor.
“It’s a disgrace to humanity for our military to do that to a young boy who
graduated from West Point,” said William Crouch of St. Albans. “I’m so mad now I
can’t stand it.”
To contact staff writer Eric Eyre, use e-mail or call 348-4869.