Lawmaker: Citizen Soldiers Deserve Equal Benefits Treatment

An Oregon representative is calling for equity in benefits for all soldiers serving in Iraq, whether they are regular military personnel or activated reservists.[@@]

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, spoke on the House floor earlier this week about hearing from a reservist in Fort Hood, Texas, who had had his bad front teeth yanked out in Oregon after his National Guard unit was called up. When the reservist got to Texas, the Army would not replace the reservist’s teeth because he was not yet on active military duty.

“So he was going to go home to Oregon on his leave before he left to try and get false teeth inserted so he would not spend a year in Iraq with a big gap in his front teeth,” DeFazio said, according to a written version of his speech that was printed in the Congressional Record.