Soldiers are trained, equipped, effective

To the editor:

A recent letter to the editor titled "Soldiers left unprotected in Iraq" contained several half-truths that I'd like to clarify.

The letter referred to 1st Lt. William Rebrook, a U.S. Army soldier from Fort Hood, Texas, who was wounded in combat. His blood-soaked body armored vest was destroyed by unit medics. When Rebrook was discharged from the Army due to combat wounds, he was required to clear supply and turn in all of his military-issued gear. Because he could not turn in his body armor and various other gear, he was charged $632. Later the Army found the documentation showing the body armor had been destroyed and refunded all but $122. The $122 was for other gear the soldier lost which was unrelated to the combat injury. Those are the facts.

Please do not twist this story into some liberal cause for political gain. The Army is huge entity, and sometimes paperwork is delayed or misplaced. As Lt. Col. Scott Bliechwehl, a spokesman for the 1st Cavalry Division, said, "There have been 21 similar cases. In all of those cases, not one soldier was held accountable for items lost in combat." The bottom line is that our military is superbly trained, appropriately equipped and performing an effective and essential mission domestically and in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Sinai and elsewhere.

CHAD CRAFT, Jackson