Letter: Objection to pay hike no way to honor troops

Thursday, May 31, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.

Regarding David Broder's column about the White House objection to the proposed 3.5 percent pay raise for the military ("Shortchanging U.S. troops is not way to honor them for their sacrifices," May 27):

Hours after I read the commentary I was still seething, as must have been the military, their dependents and relatives along with those who truly care to support the troops who had read or were aware of the column. An outrageous statement outlined in the column - "In a May 16 memo outlining a series of objections to the House version of the defense authorization bill, the White House Office of Management and Budget termed the 3.5 percent increase 'unnecessary' " - insults our heroic military. Unnecessary ?

The press has often reported that certain members of the military were seeking welfare assistance, so I'm sure they would think the raise was vital. During my 30 years of military service, I was in a position to observe many financial problems experienced by our soldiers because of inadequate pay and allowances that caused other family difficulties, including divorces and suicides. Short-term assistance on request is provided by the Army Emergency Relief, a program administered by the Army, but financed by donations with no direct funding by the government. However, that may provide only temporary relief for those requiring much more.

Vice President Dick Cheney failed to mention the outlandish "unnecessary" position during his speech to the graduating class at West Point recently, and I doubt the commander in chief, President Bush, would make that callous "unnecessary" statement to his troops, their families and the public.

I'm sure that those of our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere are dismayed by the lack of support from those in the White House. What an inglorious and infamous manner in which to have honored our troops on Memorial Day!

Leopold A. Potsiadlo, Las Vegas