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Equipment Shortage (Kathleen Guiffre) |
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Kathleen says she is proud to have served her country, but dissapointed by the inadequate support for the troops and vets.
On 7 February 2003, I volunteered to deploy with the 143rd MP Co because they were short a medic.
At the time we didn't know where we were going or for how long. Everyone assumed Iraq. We spent two months at FT Drum in upstate New York. We were told before we went to FT Drum that our outdated equipment would be replaced. We had old SINGARS, humvees that were older than some of our soldiers, and Vietnam era flak vests. At Ft Drum when our trucks and SINGARS were inspected, we were told that they were good enough for the moment and would be replaced in theater.
On our convoy from Kuwait to Iraq, several of our vehicles broke down. When some of our SINGARS died, we were told that they were so old, the Army no longer has replacement parts for them. After a couple of months we did get the new body armor, which allowed us to use the flak vests to line the doors and floors of our non-armored humvees. We think it was the flak vests that saved the lives of our soldiers that got hit by IEDs. Luckily no one in my unit was killed but we have several young soldiers who have permanent disabilities.
We returned home in April of 2004. Many of the soldiers from my unit, myself included, use the local VA hospitals frequently to deal with the phsyical and mental conditions that developed during our time in Baghdad.
To find out that the budget will be cut leaves many of us wondering if our treatments will continue. A lot of us feel let down by our government in their support of us before, during, and after our time in Iraq. We are all proud to serve our country and to be soldiers, but a little more support would be greatley appreciated.
If you enjoyed reading Kathleen' s story and would like continue to read more of such stories, plese help us by contributing to Operation Truth. Click here to donate. To arrange an interview with Kathleen, contact press[at]iava.org.
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