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What
about Shoshana Johnson; Double Standard again?
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Once again the American military shows its true colors if we are Americans fighting black, white, or whatever; it's time to be fair. Army Spec. Shoshana Johnson, the African American woman who was held prisoner of war in the U.S. invasion of Iraq, was looking forward to a quiet discharge from the Army in a few days. Battle scarred and weary, she has said not a word as her fellow POW comrade in arms Jessica Lynch cashes in with book and movie deals and a celebrity status in the media. But it is the Army that is forcing Johnson to break her peace. A few days ago, military brass informed her that she would receive a 30 percent disability benefit for her injuries. Lynch, who is White, was discharged in August and will receive an 80 percent disability benefit. The difference amounts to $600 or $700 a month in payments, and that is causing Johnson and her family to speak out. They are so troubled by what they see as a "double standard," that they have enlisted Rev. Jesse Jackson to help make their case to the news media. Jackson, who plans to plead Johnson's cause with the White House, the Pentagon and members of Congress, says the payment smacks a double standard and racism. "Here's a case of two women, same [unit], same war; everything about their service commitment and their risks are equal. . . Yet there's an enormous contrast between how the military has handled these two cases," Jackson told The Washington Post. Johnson's father, Claude Johnson, himself an Army veteran, says that while neither he nor his family begrudge Lynch her celebrity or disability payments, he believes that his daughter should get her due, and it is more than a 30 percent disability benefit. For its part, the Army, in denying charges of double standard, said Friday that claims are awarded to soldiers according to their injuries. Johnson, 30, the mother of a 3-year-old daughter, was held captive for 22- days, when her unit stumbled into an ambush in southern Iraq last March. Eleven soldiers were killed, and six, including Lynch and Johnson, were taken prisoners. Johnson was shot in both legs and is still traumatized by her war experience. In addition to walking with a limp, she suffers from bouts of depression. Tami Neat
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