One Story is Here, on ABCnews.com.
The video is created by a soldier's father, Edward Frawley, who took photos of the living conditions his son came home to after 15 months in Afghanistan. The barracks in Fort Bragg are nothing short of deplorable. I yelped more than once when I watched it.
If you don't have time to catch the 10-minute video, make note of just this image, taken by Frawley's own son, one week after he arrived home from Afghanistan:
I did a little bit more research before I decided to pass this on. I looked up Ed Frawley himself. A dog trainer in Wisconsin, he seems to be a controversial fellow, both adored and reviled in different circles. OK. If you're one to speak up, you're bound to create a few enemies. Frawley speaks loud and clear on this video, much, I'm sure, to the chagrin of a few Fort Bragg uppity- ups.
I then chatted, this morning, with Sean, a soldier and blogger that is currently stationed in Afghanistan. Of his own stay in Fort Bragg, he told me:
When I lived there for about 2 months I had about an inch of water on the floor of my room, a water pipe had burst and they were moving us to new barracks but they weren't ready yet oddly enough, they still wanted to do room inspections and expected me to be spic'n'span.In defense of Fort Bragg, he also told me
There's been a lot of money dumped into Fort Bragg over the years though.The bottom line here is that none of us would willingly leave our kids or loved ones in these living conditions. Can you imagine dropping your new high-school graduate off at a sewage-soaked dormitory? Or moving you college grad to a new job in a new city, and leaving him in an apartment filled with 2 inches of water? We wouldn't let our kids or spouses stay in a place like this for a weekend, let alone set up their homes there!
There are still some bad living situations, but they're constantly building new barracks and are trying to make the situation better. I hate to say it, but there's a decline in standards in the military reflective of society as a whole, and guys don't take care of stuff like they should.
Frawley states simply, at the end of the video "They gave you 15 months of their life; you can give 15 minutes of your time."
Ed Frawley is One Soldier's Father.
He made one video.
We can write one letter.
Find your State Representative here
Find your Senator here
What could I say, Lori? Even my normal rants and ravings couldn't do justice to that atrocity.
ReplyDeleteA picture may be worth a 1,000 words but a video is a tome.
You're right, Wil. The video speaks volumes! Thanks for putting it out there.
ReplyDeleteRachel Maddow had Mr. Frawley on her show on Air America yesterday (04/28/08). He's not crazy, and he still supports the Army and believes they will correct the problems. He did not allow himself to be used as anti-war propaganda, nor did she try to do that. He has heard from a general or two since his video appeared on the internet, and they told him they were going to take care of the problems, but that Congress was too slow in releasing funds to do so. It was Frawley himself who put it on YouTube (also on his own web site, which he says gets 10,000 hits a day).
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the video yet, but I'm sure it's disgusting. To me, this shows what the lives of our soldiers really mean to the government. This administration has no plan to "win" the war, no plan to pay for the war, and little concern for those who must fight the war.
gnightgirl... this was pretty shameful. Thanks for posting it. I'm still deciding what to say, let alone how to say it to post it on my own blog. I'm glad to see some action being promised by the military according to some media outlets... we'll see if that lasts. I still encourage people to harass their elected officials about it to encourage some resolve on the matter. Otherwise promises may easily become hollow promises without the congressional backing to get it done with funds and executive commands.
ReplyDeletelarry jones... this line bugged me a bit:
"To me, this shows what the lives of our soldiers really mean to the government."
As someone who has had to deal with the bureaucracy of the government and veterans issues, I can assure you that the government as a whole generally does suck on such matters. This is precisely why people like this dad are important to spread awareness of the issue and harassment of our reps to get them to focus on it.
Generally bureaucrats are like you and me. They do their job and they have a host of motivations behind that job to do it. They aren't evil or neglectful people. It took me years fighting the VA for benefits and I had relatives that worked for them. They weren't uncaring, they were following the law. Unless we hold our gov't accountable, the gov't will be just as uncaring and complacent as the rest of us. The bureaucrats follow their rules... ie our rules.
Demonizing the gov't may be a handy scapegoat, but since we still have a congress and democratic input into that gov't, you are also demonizing the voters who are getting the gov't they deserve.
When you blame "this administration" for what the congress authorized, you're also blaming all of us. The gov't isn't our scapegoat... it's a result of our actions or inactions. Demonize it if you want to, but keep in mind you might be demonizing yourself and us as you do so.
Thanks for spreading the word. I'll watch. And I'll write.
ReplyDeleteglock21 - I don't want to use Lori's blog to debate this with you, but your own Blogger profile is a dead link. Feel free to email me: jones at revision99 dot com.
ReplyDeleteI live on the far side of Ft. Bragg. One of my stipulations for taking a job down here was that I would be able to live on the far side of the base rather than the near side of it. It's pretty scuzzy over there.
ReplyDelete