A Perfect Example Of How America Treats Its Heroes

In the October issue of the American Legion Magazine there are two articles bemoaning the struggle veterans--especially the newest crop of veterans returning from Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and other troble spots--are having getting benefits, especially health care and monetary benefits. As has been the tradition of the Veterans' Administration, going all the way back to the civil war, there is resistance to recognizing veterans' rights to health care and other benefits. Some veterans are finding that if they were injured anywhere outside of an actual war zone they are not given the same classification and recognition of their injuries and disabilities as those that are injured on the battle front. This is appalling in that every veteran serves willingly and with honor, always at the ready to go anywhere his country asks, always ready to go into harm's way.

While the Bush gang and the Republican-dominated congress calim to support the troops and veterans, they have not passed a law that would fully fund the VA, have not made sure that the troops on the ground have adequate supplies of necessary equipment, and have, at times, required troops and veterans to pay for their own needs despite the promises made to them when they entered service. I have said it before, and I say it again, there is no such thing as a safe day on active duty. Every day on active duty places a service member at risk.

But the pattern of ignoring our nation's hero does not stop at ignoring, mistreating and denying benefits to our military and veternas. In the Boston area an article on how an FBI agent that served at Guantanamo Bay, under unsanitary conditions forced upon her by the military command where she worked interrogating detainees, was exposed to leptosporosis, a communicable disease transmitted in rat urine and feces. After contracting the disease, being misdiagnosed, and finally becoming severely disabled by the fact that she did not receive adequate care in a timely manner, she is having to fight the federal government every step of the way to have her needs met.

Even though I cannot support the interrogation efforts of the FBI, I fully realize that the FBI agents and troops at Gitmo are fulfilling their obligations of service. They are indeed heroes and deserving of fulfillment of the promises our nation makes to those that serve faithfully. But, our government is a notroious liar and scoundrel when it comes to honoring its commitments to our nation's heroes.

Shame on Bush, Rumsfeld, the VA, Congress and the rest of us for allowing this crap to continue.

FBI Agent Says Bureau Failed Her After Illness

BOSTON -- An FBI agent says the bureau has abandoned her as she fights a disease contracted while on assignment in Cuba.

NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported that Theresa Foley said she's in a fight against the bureau and to regain her health.

Foley is an FBI agent who volunteered for duty at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba three years ago.

"I went down to Guantanamo to work. I signed off knowing it would be a year of my life. I thanked God for the opportunity," Foley said.

But now, Foley said she can barely walk and has undergone spinal fusion and surgery because of a bacterial disease called leptosporosis. The disease is transmitted by rat urine, which Foley said infested the living quarters to which she was assigned at Guantanamo.

"Due to the heavy rat infestation in that housing unit, that's what did the damage," Foley said.

Foley said the bureau didn't let her move. Meanwhile, her condition worsened. Foley said by the time she was diagnosed by a specialist in Boston in January 2004, who claimed that doctors at Guantanamo missed an easy diagnosis because "they didn't want to diagnose her condition."

"I'm their error that they want to go away," Foley said.

While at Guantanamo Bay, Foley, who comes from a law enforcement family, said she observed some agents spending too much time fishing, diving and partying.

"I'm told I'm working too much. I thought that was the war on terror," Foley said.

By August 2004, Foley said the disease had penetrated her central nervous system, requiring multiple surgeries and long-term care by her parents in Roslindale. Yet, she and her doctors said the FBI fought tooth-and-nail against medical interventions and surgery, fought them on worker's compensation and a transfer to Boston.

Foley said the FBI relented only after Sen. Edward Kennedy's office stepped in.

On Wednesday, Kennedy said, "The FBI and the administration need to stop stonewalling in this case. It's long past time to come clean about what really happened to this agent in Guantanamo."

When asked why they had not kept contact and looked after an agent injured in the line of duty, an FBI spokeswoman in Boston told NewsCenter 5 that Foley had failed to notify the office of her surgery an status.

"I have been deathly sick, in and out of the hospital. It is my other who has to care for me, who has to bathe me and dress me. It is my responsibility and that is their answer? That is deplorable," Foley said.

NewsCenter 5 contacted an FBI official in Washington declined comment on Wednesday.

Kenneth Kaiser of the Boston FBI office told NewsCenter 5 that "Currently, FBI officials maintain contact with her … This office will continue to offer assistance and support ... I cannot comment any further out of respect for Special Agent Foley's privacy."

Foley said she has never spoken with Kaiser and no one has been in contact with her since April.