“Hospital Officials Knew Of Neglect” – now that says alot, but not as much as the actual article:

Top officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army’s surgeon general, have heard complaints about outpatient neglect from family members, veterans groups and members of Congress for more than three years.

A procession of Pentagon and Walter Reed officials expressed surprise last week about the living conditions and bureaucratic nightmares faced by wounded soldiers staying at the D.C. medical facility. But as far back as 2003, the commander of Walter Reed, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who is now the Army’s top medical officer, was told that soldiers who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were languishing and lost on the grounds, according to interviews.

So all the outrage we heard last week from top officials was nothing more than a publicity stunt; an attempt to spin something so horrible. That is disgusting, but it gets better worse:

In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. “When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable,” said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.

Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, “I went flying down to Kevin Kiley’s office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else.”

(emphasis mine)

So a member of Congress stopped visiting soldiers because they were “frustrated”. Why didn’t Mr. Young address this on the House floor? Why didn’t he show this level of frustration to other members of Congress, and why didn’t they act? My only guess is that they didn’t want to bring it up because it might make the administration look bad.

And if you think Bill Young sounds familiar, then you are right. At last year’s State of the Union address, Young’s wife was kicked out for wearing a “support our troops” shirt, the same night Cindy Sheehan was kicked out. As matter of fact, this is what Young said about the incident:

“She has a real passion for our troops, and she shows it in many, many ways,” Young said.

“And most members in this House know that, but because she had on a shirt, that someone didn’t like, that said, ‘Support Our Troops,’ she was kicked out of this gallery while the president was speaking and encouraging Americans to support our troops. Shame. Shame.”

Now this was well over a year after Young and his wife stopped going to Walter Reed “out of frustration”, and yet at the time of the State of the Union, they were claiming this superior support of our troops. It was fine to use wounded soldiers when Young needed them to make political statements, yet when the soldiers really needed him he just ignored it. Beverly Young saw a brave soldier who was wounded lying in his own urine at our military’s top medical facility and did Bill Young use any of his congressional power to try and correct this? The Youngs are just as bad as the people who caused this mess at Walter Reed.

This is a perfect example of how the Republicans use our troops for their own gains. When the going gets tough then they run and hide. Young should have been on the House floor every day yelling about what was happening, but he didn’t. Him and his wife claimed their support for our troops, yet when he saw troops that really needed support, he turned the other cheek. I believe Bill Young, as well as the Republican leadership, have some serious questions to answer in their complicity to this heinous act.

If a citizen of this country sees a crime and doesn’t report it then they can be charged. What has happened at Walter Reed is a crime and the Youngs should be held accountable for their inactions!