America

“Everything that is wrong with America can be fixed by everything that is right with America”

I believe it with nearly fiber of my being, but most epecially when I read this:

The Pentagon has also found a novel way of recovering some of the $240 billion it has spent to fight its losing war in Iraq: charge soldiers for gear destroyed in battle. First Lieutenant William “Eddie” Rebrook IV, a 25-year-old West Virginian, found out about this new military income stream the hard way. He was riding in the turret of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle last year when it was hit by a roadside bomb. Rebrook’s right arm was wounded and he was picked up by a Black Hawk helicopter and taken to a combat hospital in Baghdad. When he turned his gear in early this year, prior to heading home, he was ordered to pay nearly $700 for the equipment that was destroyed in the attack, including $570 for the Kevlar vest he had been wearing. Not really knowing what to do , Rebrook borrowed the money from his pals in the First Cavalry Division and paid the U.S. Army . When WKWS, a local Charleston, West Virginia, radio station reported the story, donations flooded in – more than 200 of them, according to americablog [here's the link in case you're interested], for a total of $5,400. Rebrook, who graduated with honors from West Point, isn’t keeping the money. He’s giving some of it to the mother of a soldier who helped save his life in Iraq, her house was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The rest, he’s giving to charity.

VANITY FAIR – April 2006, p.70

The first half of that is absolutely infuriating, the latter parts are absolutely amazing and humbling.