Is There Nothing They Won't Stoop To?

By now you know how fond I am of Zay N. Smith of the Chicago Sun-Times. Usually he lightens my day with his quirky squibs that I never see anywhere else. It's the first newspaper I open in the morning. My hometown paper comes in second.

This is neither light nor quirky.

From Quick Takes today:

Former Army Lt. William Redbrook of Charleston, West Va., on having to pay the Army $700 for body armor that was destroyed when he was seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq:

"They said that I owed them $700. It was like, 'Thank you for your service, now here's the bill for $700.' I had to pay for it if I wanted to get on with my life."

An anti-war group raised funds to pay for the armor the moment the story was out.

You understand how it is with these groups.

Probably did it to undermine troop morale.