Esquire rolled?
A couple of you have sent me the story from Esquire and Politico this morning that the SEAL who got bin Laden was destitute and forgotten by an ingrate nation. Here are some of the lines that jump out;
“My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night,” he said in the days after he left the service. “I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no. You’re out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen years. Go f-ck yourself.”
The man who killed Bin Laden does not receive pension, healthcare or family protection since he left the military, Bronstein writes.
But the Shooter will discover soon enough that when he leaves after sixteen years in the Navy, his body filled with scar tissue, arthritis, tendonitis, eye damage, and blown disks, here is what he gets from his employer and a grateful nation:
Nothing. No pension, no health care, and no protection for himself or his family.
Yeah, well, I’ve been told that you folks getting out of the service have five years of Tricare, whatever is left of it after this administration gets done with it. And that doesn’t include the Veterans Affairs stuff. All of those things would get him a service-connected rating, treatment and help for his family. And as TSO said; “…and he can grab a 200k job in about 4 seconds with DynCorps”.
So, I’m thinking that this Phil Bronstein, who happens to be the executive chairman of the Center for Investigative Reporting and wrote the article got rolled by someone, it looks like there were quite a few involved in the asshattery. If he wasn’t tricked by a phony, then the article he wrote sucked. Either way, I wouldn’t let him be the executive director of anything named for investigative journalism.
We can’t get the guy’s FOIA, because there’s no mention of his name – we’re just supposed to take Ol’ Phil’s word for it, but given his level of investigation thus far, I wouldn’t. If I’m wrong and this guy is a real deal SEAL and needs help, I have banks of folks standing by to help him, in case he’s the only person on the planet who doesn’t know what’s available to him and his family, from Congressional aides to VSOs – but he kinda sounds like another Leo Webb.
And, oh, his account of the shooting of bin Laden conflicts with Matt Bissonette’s account, too.
February 11th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
I don’t know about the Tricare stuff, but I do know I walked into a VA and got immediate treatment (literally within an hour) and had it for 5 years. And within 5 years he would be service-connected for all that stuff.
I’m not saying this is a complete fake, but on the other hand, we don’t have much to go on but some clearly erroneous reporting.
February 11th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
Having read the article, there are just too many things in there that sound like a load of BS.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:00 pm
I had it for 5 years as well. I’ve had good enough coverage that I haven’t used the VA since I first got out but my end date for coverage ended last month.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:02 pm
Hes probably just another faker that rick rolled the writer. I call BS
February 11th, 2013 at 2:02 pm
If we find out who this guy is and can prove he’s a fake, tell the other Ballduster McSoulpatch candidates to quit now because we have a winner.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:06 pm
NR Pax: if he’s fake, IMO he’ll certainly be a shoe-in for the Fecal Four . . . .
February 11th, 2013 at 2:12 pm
Sounds like the “vet as victim” meme, again.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:15 pm
If he was involuntarily separated under honorable conditions, he’d have a minimum of 180 days Tricare TAMP. If he left service voluntarily or was involuntarily separated as OTH or via a punitive discharge, he could well be out of luck unless and until the VA determines his disability status.
http://www.tricare.mil/TAMP
He has to be legit, though. Reporters never get taken by frauds claiming to be ex-military. (smile)
February 11th, 2013 at 2:23 pm
I think the article is pure BS.
Funny thing, though – the ESQUIRE article says, “When the White House identified SEAL Team 6 as those responsible, camera crews swarmed into their Virginia Beach neighborhood, taking shots of the SEALs’ homes.”
Yeah, right. Like everyone one the team resides on the same cul de sac, with signs in their front yard that says “SEAL TEAM 6 MEMBER LIVES HERE – GO NAVY!”.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
Hondo, I’d be surprised if he washed out early. The article was talked about on CNN just now so that adds points right there.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:28 pm
This stinks, aside from the fact there is mandatory transistion assistance training, etc, why get out after 16 when you have 4 to go and full benifits. It was drilled into me from day 1 keep copies of all medical records and as soon as I get out make a VA appointment and bring up any injuries so even if 20 years down the road it goes south there are records of it. If he had all that he claims to have wrong with him he would have a large disability check. Not to mention the SOF community is tight knit and always helps out unless of course yoru a dumbass. Either he is a fake, was getting out to make money or a book, or was did not leave the service of his own free will. I can also assume that after 16 years and being on 6 he was a CPO or an E6 which means he had to know all that would be offered upon getting out etc because he would be expected to pass it on to his own troops. Way to get suckered Esquire and again an ass hat that pulls the my name is secret crap.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:28 pm
#8 Hondo, from your link: “Separating from active duty following a voluntary agreement to stay on active duty for less than one year in support of a contingency operation”
From the article: The government does provide 180 days of transitional health-care benefits, but the Shooter is eligible only if he agrees to remain on active duty “in a support role,” or become a reservist. Either way, his life would not be his own.
That does not seem inconsistent, so Jonn, that part may be correct in the article.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:29 pm
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50768594/#50768594
February 11th, 2013 at 2:30 pm
The article was talked about on CNN just now so that adds points right there.
Not many, considering they’re about on a credibility par with the Weekly World News. One more BatBoy sighting, however…
February 11th, 2013 at 2:31 pm
FOXNEWS on TV just carried the story, too.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:32 pm
First off who gets out after 16 years with only 4 to go for at least some sort of pension. Also he was in Navy for 8 years before making it through the SEAL program and then a SEAL for 8 years. Want to believe the guy really, but we all know all the services have programs to explain benefits to service members who are transitioning out and anybody who is leaving the service and doesn’t plan accordingly is just acting stupid.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:33 pm
This is hogwash. I was told at the end of my first hitch to go right to the VA office when I got home and register for benefits. The second time around, I already knew that. Nothing has changed. If you have a discharge DD form, you go file a claim for benefits.
Besides that, if you have medical conditions that are service-related, those are supposed to be reviewed and evaluated before you’re discharged. I don’t think anything has changed in that regard.
I don’t haunt the doctor’s office, and haven’t asked the VA for anything for literally decades, but when my chiropractor wanted to see x-rays of my back, I went to the VA and asked if they could do that for me, and they did, right away.
In addition, I stopped by the DAV’s field rep van at Kenosha and asked about things, and the rep was extremely helpful. I saw a very elderly WWII vet there, with his adult son who was trying to find out about bringing him closer to home and getting assisted care for him.
If nothing else, the DAV will go to bat for you. My sister-in-law’s father had a hole in his back from a shrapnel wound that he got in the South Pacific in WWII. It took him a long time, but he did finally get compensated for it and got the medical help he needed, through the DAV.
This little sob story — SORRY, Charlie. Don’t believe it for one second. Hogwash!!!
February 11th, 2013 at 2:36 pm
I don’t buy that article for a second. I private who get chaptered before he hits 3 years knows his benefits better than that guy seems to. And no way a guy who is a SEAL for all those years doesn’t have lucrative job opportunities in the civilian sector. I can’t wait to see the fallout from this.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Why would anybody pull the pin at 16+ years instead of sticking it out for three more and retiring with full benefits?
This story just doesn’t smell right, and I’m starting to wonder if the author just made the whole thing up, a la Jayson Blair.
February 11th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
[...] SEAL is unnamed, there is no way for anyone to verify the story or help, and my friends over at This Ain’t Hell think “the Shooter” may actually be a phony, since veterans may be entitled to five years of Tricare coverage after leaving the [...]
February 11th, 2013 at 2:39 pm
I apologize for the grammatical errors in my last post. iPhone impaired user. *A private who gets chaptered…
February 11th, 2013 at 2:41 pm
There’s another thing: don’t we all know who the guys were who actually shot bin Laden, per Bissonnette’s recount?
February 11th, 2013 at 2:45 pm
I would imagine a SEAL would know how to connect to the VA website at the very least, where it explains some of the bennies of having served in the GWOT the least of which is 5 yrs of medical treatment ALONG with w.e it is he can claim for service connected. When you process out part of the briefings is a talk by a VA rep who hands out the VA benifits handbook which also lists/explains things.
“Under the “Combat Veteran” authority, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides cost-free health care services and nursing home care for conditions possibly related to military service and enrollment in Priority Group 6, unless eligible for enrollment in a higher priority group to:
•
Combat Veterans who were discharged or released from active service on or after January 28, 2003, are now eligible to enroll in the VA health care system for 5 years from the date of discharge or release. NOTE: The 5-year enrollment period applicable to these veterans begins on the discharge or separation date of the service member from active duty military service, or in the case of multiple call-ups, the most recent discharge date.”
http://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/assets/documents/publications/IB-10-438_Combat_Veteran_Eligibility.pdf
The sum of human knowledge on a device that fits in our pocket; the interwebs is hard…
February 11th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
http://www.tricare.mil/CHCBP
Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP)
The Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP) is a premium-based health care program that offers temporary transitional health coverage for 18-36 months after TRICARE eligibility ends. If you qualify, you can purchase CHCBP within 60 days of loss of eligibility for either regular TRICARE or Transitional Assistance Management Program (TAMP) coverage.
Eligible Beneficiaries
Under certain circumstances, the following beneficiaries may be eligible:
Former active duty service members released from active duty (under other than adverse conditions) and their eligible family members. Coverage is limited to 18 months.
Unremarried former spouses who were eligible for TRICARE on the day before the date of the final decree of divorce, dissolution or annullment. Coverage is usually limited to 36 months however some unremarried former spouses may continue coverage beyond 36 months if they meet certain criteria. Contact Humana Military for details.
Children who cease to meet the requirements to be an eligible family member and were eligible for TRICARE on the day before ceasing to meet those requirements. Coverage is limited to 36 months.
Certain unmarried children by adoption or legal custody. Coverage is limited to 36 months
Coverage
CHCBP acts as a bridge between military health benefits and your new civilian health plan. CHCBP benefits are comparable to TRICARE Standard with the same benefits, providers and program rules. You can also have prescriptions filled at network pharmacies or via home delivery while covered by the CHCBP.
CHCBP Contractor
Humana Military, a division of Humana Government Business, is the CHCBP contractor and will provide services for enrollment, authorization, claims processing and customer service. For more information about CHCBP or to see you you qualify, visit the CHCBP Web site or call Humana Military at 1-800-444-5445.
February 11th, 2013 at 3:07 pm
GUYS!!!!
Found a photo of the guy they interviewed.
http://www.kythri.net/pictures/airsoft.jpg
February 11th, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Chip, you’re supposed to warn people if you intend to scare them. I’m just sayin’.
February 11th, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Hold on a second. When I read your post and saw the words ‘Phil Bronstein’ I knew right then that this whole story has to be called in to question.
I have lived in the Bay Area and Northern California nearly my whole life. Phil Bronstein left the Hearst Corporation a year ago after spending 20 years in executive editor positions at both the SF Examiner and the SF Chronicle. He is a sensationalist first, and I don’t believe him to be objective.
After leaving Hearst, he jumped right over to The Center for Investigative Reporting in BERKELEY. That right there should be a big red flag. I suspect the notion of this story was too good to pass up and in his eagerness to further tear-down the military he decided to believe this story without proper vetting.
[He's also known as the former husband of actress Sharon Stone.]
February 11th, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Don’t get all wrapped up around the axle with all the ways that Vets have access to health care.
I recommend that all energies be expended towards debunking the veracity of the story itself.
February 11th, 2013 at 3:35 pm
I call
Bravo
Sierra
February 11th, 2013 at 3:38 pm
A real SEAL tells me that he believes that the subject of the article is “The Guy”, but that doesn’t change the gist of the story that there’s nothing available to him in regards to healthcare.
February 11th, 2013 at 3:40 pm
Phil Bronstein = fuckstick.
February 11th, 2013 at 3:41 pm
Holy smokes Chip!! What the hell was that? That was surely no seal…but I’ll bet he could eat one!
February 11th, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Bronstein also got attacked by a Komodo Dragon a few years ago. Slow working toxin?
February 11th, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Check that, looks like he had the antibody from sex with Sharon Stone. Disregard.
February 11th, 2013 at 3:46 pm
@32,
It’s a JOKE!!
It’s some fatass air soft guy that is usually accompanied with the phrase in the photo…”Don’t worry Ma’am,I’m from the INTERNET!”
February 11th, 2013 at 3:53 pm
I was just on another site…Breitbart. I don’t know if that person meant this was a good read …but I commented and said that maybe she should come here and get some more info before believing what she read.
February 11th, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Shit. Anonymous was me…private browse. Argh!
February 11th, 2013 at 4:01 pm
For Phil Bronstein, it is all about self-promotion. Here Phil tells us that ‘The Shooter’ came to him because Phil had war experience.
http://youtu.be/EHvmRBQHxNU
February 11th, 2013 at 4:11 pm
@35, that guy in the picture — is his name Short Round, by any chance?
February 11th, 2013 at 4:12 pm
This story is clearly bullshit. The question is who is bullshitting who?
According to the article several people would have to have been involved to pull off a fairly elaborate hoax to roll Bronstein.
Or Bronstein, thinking the Navy will not comment on a Tier One operator, just fabricated the whole damn thing.
Or “The Shooter” was dishonorably discharged for something pretty damn bad leaving him with little or no benefits and unemployable.
February 11th, 2013 at 4:12 pm
When I was stationed in Little Creek we all called these guys DevGru, do they really refer to themselves at ST6? That was always kind of a no-no.
February 11th, 2013 at 4:25 pm
35 Chip,
I know it was a joke….
PH2, short round….HA!
February 11th, 2013 at 4:30 pm
Just for clarity, under the “8 Year Rule”, if you have 8 or more years of active Federal service, almost any medical condition is considered service connected or service aggrivated, regardless if it exsisted prior to service. The idea is that even if you had it before you came in, or it’s hereditary, the rigors of military service would make it worse then it would otherwise have been.
With the 16 yrs claimed by this guy, he just has to prove he has the medical conditions, and they are worse then whatever he had when he came in the service. From that point on, he’s eligible for compensation through the VA.
This story is a heaping, steaming pile of bull pucky.
February 11th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
Jonn: he should personally have access to healthcare via the VA through their combat vet healthcare policy relating to the GWOT. As noted above by ComancheDoc in comment 23, that should cover him for 5 years after his separation date.
For his family, well, no. He apparently “punched out” before retirement w/o having something lined up regarding his family’s healthcare coverage. By doing that, he also “punched out” their coverage under Tricare.
Sad to say, if this guy is legit it looks to me like he did this to himself. I cannot believe the Navy wouldn’t have found a place for him until retirement if he’d gone to his chain of command and said, “I’m burned out. I can’t do the missions any more; I’m afraid I’ll get myself and my teammates killed. I need to move to the training or planning side of the house, at least for a while.”
February 11th, 2013 at 4:42 pm
Geez, we’re desperate. Based on Chip’s link, we’re letting Jabba the Hut Jr. enlist these days! (smile)
February 11th, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Took a matter of seconds to see that this article is bogus.
February 11th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
I do have to tell you that this month is when my hubby retired and I am feeling a little sour at the military. The whole fact that they can’t find another job until the date that they retire and then they hold their last pay check and then they pay it in two portion pisses me off to no end and has put us in a difficult position. We are okay, because luckily we planned and had friends who retired the year before and let us know of this goody. In this economy though, we were lucky that my husband was able to find a job right away. I can’t imagine those that don’t have any job prospects and then have their last paycheck held.. Frickin forget medical care, how do you eat with no money coming in?
February 11th, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Melle, you and Prayngmantis can come live with me, but the internet sucks. Do the kids mind sleeping in those big tuperware bins?
February 11th, 2013 at 5:15 pm
ALCON,
It looks like FoxNews has picked up the story as well…
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/11/seal-who-killed-bin-laden-now-jobless/
This one just doesn’t smell right to me either….I would like to know his name and all. Having been in for almost 25 years, I’ve been preparing to retire since I passed the ten year mark….but that’s just me.
February 11th, 2013 at 5:25 pm
@48 LOL– It would be a big WOW slumber party. I am hoping the federal government can cough up the money way before we get to that situation.
And I am glad we are no longer at their mercy for our pay check.
Besides I have a moody teenager. I think you would throw us out- he he..
February 11th, 2013 at 5:34 pm
Melle, I have a pantry, freezer and fridge full of food. You’re welcome at my teeny tiny house any time.
February 11th, 2013 at 5:40 pm
Thank you Ph2– I am really not in that dire straights, but I truly appreciate it.. My hubby was able to get a job. Although we were trying for a contractor job. With sequestration they have seemed to have dried up. Even the oil fields weren’t calling him back, so we were scared for a while there.
He got a nice job with a medavac company and it makes him happy- 7 days on 7 days off and now he has 7 day off to play WOW and fish. We just have to patiently wait to get that first paycheck and the last one while we eat up our savings.
February 11th, 2013 at 6:13 pm
They are talking about this on Fox News right now. The amazing ignorance of the panel (minus Dana Perino who seems suspicious) is astounding.
February 11th, 2013 at 6:17 pm
Oil patch is hiring here in south central Ks. Paying big bucks for licensed over the road drivers.
February 11th, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Melle, do not be too proud to go to the food pantries. I’ve never had to, but I only have me to feed. And my two cats.
I want to know who this individual is, also. I want to see proof of his existence, not some shadowed or distorted image and distorted voice. I’m beginning to think this is a piece of complete fiction on Bornstein’s part. I read that article and it is too full of (???) for me.
February 11th, 2013 at 6:35 pm
Melle-
I have a open kitchen always welcome to military families. And do not be afraid to use coupons. Aldi’s has great fresh veggies much cheaper than anywhere I have found. Check and see if you have a farm cooperative or a local dairy producer that has a bottling operation. They are generally cheaper and carry eggs and dairy. I try to shop locally I even found a butcher that has beef and pork grown locally and cheaper than Wal-Mart.
And PH2 has great recipes. And Yat Yas gravy is super good.
February 11th, 2013 at 6:38 pm
“Rolled”? I think you ment “Trolled”
February 11th, 2013 at 6:45 pm
I’ve been reading this story at various sites all day. It’s too good to be true. In my book, simply based on my own service, and being in the VA syatem (as well as a member of the DAV) I honestly believe this story is pure BS.
I don’t know whether the author was hoodwinked by a poser, or if he made it up from whole cloth, but it doesn’t pass the smell test.
In fact, the story sounds too concocted, as if the teller took bits and pieces of stories he heard and/or read and laced them all together into a solid narrative.
The real clincher for me, however, is that the SEALS are a tight-knit community. They take care of their own, and this guy would know that. All he’d have to do is make one phone call, and folks would be there to help him. No matter their disability or injuries, companies all over the country are paying top dollar for former SEALS, Rangers, SF, etc.
Considering all of that, I call shenanigans.
February 11th, 2013 at 6:54 pm
I call Bravo Sierra as well. While our Govt. isn’t always the nicest guy on the block, I don’t believe for one second that they would throw ANYONE on the team that KIA’d Geronimo under the bus.
Or any non-dishonorable SF or SEAL, for that matter.
February 11th, 2013 at 7:04 pm
@55 & 56 — Thank you so much for the offers. You guys are wonderful. One of the many things I love about the military community. I am not quite at the food pantry stage, but if I get there- I would try it. I have kids and I don’t have much shame in what I would do to feed them. Fortunately for me I live about two miles from Fort Campbell and the finance office handling the paperwork for my hubby’s retirement and making sure his last pay gets processed, and they don’t want a momma with hungry kids on their doorstop.
February 11th, 2013 at 7:20 pm
Melle — Go to the Recipes column. Try Defend’s Noodles and Gravy, Hondo’s Mothers and Beans, Twist’s Chicken — awesome food! There is also a link to more recipes — budget stretchers and worth your time.
February 11th, 2013 at 7:41 pm
Yeah. BS.
The SEAL’s are very close-knit. If he was honorably discharged, his team, his community and the Chief’s Mess would be all over this.
If he was kicked out, it might be a different story.
Plus, this “reporter” is a sensationalist….
George (CTIC(SG) (Ret))
February 11th, 2013 at 8:04 pm
Sean Hannity is interviewing Phil Bronstein on FNC tonight.
February 11th, 2013 at 8:47 pm
@63: but, I’m afraid that the media, including FOX, is all caught up with assuming that the article has credibility. The BS flags being waved here by folks that I’ve learned to trust give me concern.
February 11th, 2013 at 9:49 pm
For what it’s worth, if anyone is reading this – here are some things you need to know about retirement/transition, right off the bat.
(1) SGLI remains in place for 120 days after you separate. That gives you time to find another life insurance policy if you don’t roll SGLI over to VGLI.
(2) TRICARE remains in place for about 90 days. If you retire, you can enroll in the Tricare program you want and make monthly, quarterly or annual payments. It can come out of your retirement check. Same goes for dental.
(3) For Marines, the separations section MUST provide your copies of your DD214 when you go on terminal leave, and they must generate regular pay periods up through the last regular pay period. Then they issue final payment, which should hit about 5 – 10 days after your EAS/retirement date.
If anyone needs the MARADMIN, let me know. There were a couple that discussed this very issue when I transitioned and they are still in place.
February 11th, 2013 at 9:51 pm
Sorry – should read “…must issue regular pay on the next regular pay period (1st or 15th), followed by final pay…”
February 11th, 2013 at 10:29 pm
A – Someone with 16 total years in suddenly leaves when he’s thisclose to retirement? I don’t buy it.
B – Someone leaves the service without registering for VA benefits? I don’t buy it.
C – Someone leaving the service doesn’t know about COBRA coverage, or doesn’t go and apply for VA benefits right away? I don’t buy it.
D – The article is written in a ‘pity the poor sailor’ way, and is SO over-embroidered, it’s a bit difficult to swallow and this is after reading only the first online page. Again, I don’t buy it.
In fact, either Bronstein was conned by this guy or Bronstein made the entire thing up because he’s trying to attract an audience.
Marketing sunglasses as a civilian job after being a SEAL? Oh, come on! How much of this BS are we expected to swallow? And for how long? This story has too many holes in it to be anything more than overdone non-fiction or just pure fiction.
I don’t buy it.
February 11th, 2013 at 11:26 pm
I’m glad I’m not the only person who thought this was a hot mess when I saw the story this morning.
February 11th, 2013 at 11:39 pm
Just watched my DVR’d “The Following” on FOX and afterward they had the previews for what was coming up next on FOX News at 10. One of the lead stories was this story.
The preview stated “No benefits for NAVY SEALs The NAVY SEAL who shot bin Laden is about to retire. And he won’t be getting any benefits…”
I didn’t bother to watch any further, because I don’t watch TV news (haven’t since 2004 when I discovered blogs), so I don’t know if the story was to explain this was bogus or not.
February 11th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
If this is guy is legit, I bet he was recently diciplined by RADM Bonelli DEP COM NSW.
A gaggle of the DEVGRU guys recieved NJP, for a Chief or above … a promotion kiss of death.
If he is not legit … he should be the next winner of the Poser Contest!
February 11th, 2013 at 11:51 pm
@69- Hannity had Phil Bronstein on and he was lapping his BS up without question. I had to turn it off, it was making me ill.
February 11th, 2013 at 11:52 pm
TSO … I was chased by a Komodo Dragon on Grande Island just off Subic in 1987. Nothing funny about what lives in the mouth of a Komodo Dragon.
February 12th, 2013 at 12:02 am
kp32 Says: @69- Hannity had Phil Bronstein on and he was lapping his BS up without question. I had to turn it off, it was making me ill.
———-
That’s why I stopped watching TV news and get my news solely from blogs and military blogs since 2004. I was getting to the point that I was constantly angry, seriously furiously angry, all the gawddamned time, because I was so furious at all the bullshit lies being told by the media every day. I become extremely cynical and pessimistic about everything from the constant drumbeat of lies. And then became even more enraged when the conventional wisdom somehow became that FNC was lying, not the rest of the liberal media. I think if I hadn’t stopped watching the news and if blogs and military blogs had not been born, I would have died of a heart attack before the age of 30.
It still pisses me the fark off that the majority of people still believe the BS spewed by the media, but at least now when I hear someone tell me some BS they got from the media, I can tell them ‘um, no, that’s BS’ and then send them a link to Ace of Spades or Breitbart or This Ain’t Hell to provide them with the facts.
February 12th, 2013 at 3:17 am
I wish the brother well, separation from the service can be trying, hopefully someone will offer him a job in the near future.
February 12th, 2013 at 8:29 am
#38 The only war experience Phil Bronstein has is hand to hand combat with kimono dragons, that and engaging in close contact with Sharon Stone.
February 12th, 2013 at 11:04 am
The stupidity of the article is to presume that a SEAL wife with kids is completely ignorant of her husband’s health insurance benefits too — nothing in this article makes any sense.
February 12th, 2013 at 11:10 am
lol I have to go with @76 with that; my wife knew more about
my benefits than I did at first.
February 12th, 2013 at 12:46 pm
I have been wondering whether this is a result of Dev Grp’s recent decision to “discipline” a number of team guys due to their participation as “consultants” on a game that had them revealing waay too much information about tactics. I think there were about four or five of these guys who were probably demoted and perhaps lost other benefits — in that position it is understandable that an experienced member of this team would opt to leave. Telling a good story to Esquire might be a way of making up the financial loss.
February 12th, 2013 at 7:18 pm
I’m a vet, and this article seems completely unrealistic, Bronstein obviously did no factcheck or followup, didn’t even glance at the VA website. What makes him think this “secret source” is even a vet AT ALL? Was there even a vet, or did he make the entire thing up?
Bronstein=Glass? What gives? What kind of idiot publishes things that can be easily be verified as false, on the word of a “secret source” stranger? Are they joking?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Glass
February 12th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
Agree with Midori, vets only get “abandoned with no benefits” if they serve dishonorably and lose them. Either Bronstein made it up, or the “vet” pulled a total snowjob on him. Either way, he failed to verify or manipulated facts, because this story is hogwash on some level.
February 13th, 2013 at 2:04 pm
Decent story covering the “other” side of the Esquire piece: http://gawker.com/5983706/esquire-editors-if-you-complain-about-our-botched-bin-laden-shooter-story-you-hate-the-troops
March 25th, 2013 at 11:10 am
[...] You’ve all read that “the Shooter” who got bin Laden has been left out in regards to his medical benefits, but mostly because he didn’t do his research before he left the military. Well our friends at SOFREP say he wasn’t the shooter, either; [...]