Two truckers return from Iraq disillusioned - Getting shot in the head is no fun

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=58675

Rob Rowe completed 12 years in the U.S. Marines and U.S. Army and trucked for 15 years before serving as a trucker contactor in Iraq.

Brian Rolfe had been a trucker 16 years when he signed on a trucker contractor in Iraq as a way to serve his country.

Rowe was shot in the knee during a convoy attack and has retained a lawyer to pay for medical treatment and lost wages. Rolfe was shot in the head, but says he was compensated for his medical treatment and lost wages.

Both advise against serving as a trucker contractor in Iraq, saying they had to drive unarmored trucks in a war zone. Both contracted with the engineering and construction firm Kellogg, Brown & Root, which did not respond to requests for comment.

In February, Rowe and Rolfe attended a meeting of former Iraq contractors, where they heard a speaker on post-traumatic stress – an illness both say they have. The meeting was organized by Jana Crowder, a Knoxville, Tenn. homemaker who said she began the website www.AmericanContractorsinIraq.com because contractors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are not getting the help they need.

[Redstone]

1. Well, they KNEW they'd be driving in a fucking COMBAT ZONE, didn't they?

No sympathy here. They went for the big bucks, and came out on the short side of the risk equation.

What, did they think driving in Iraq would just be I-95 with the signs in a different language?

Redstone

[BlooInBloo]

2. Maybe the "sand niggers" they killed and the 14 yo's they raped made it worth it to them.

[sandnsea]

3. They were stupid

but like I always say, stupid deserves a second chance too. I hate what they did. I hate that our government chose the privatization option that allowed them to be manipulated by those corrupt corporations. But either way, they were in that fucked up mess along with the troops. They need to be taken care of. We need to make sure KBR meets that responsibility - before Halliburton leaves the country.

[eridani]

4. Yes, KBR ought to be on the hook here

They were getting paid 30 times what regular army people get paid, so you't think KBR could afford it.

[roody]

5. Are these the two men in "Iraq for Sale"?

[NNN0LHI]

6. These guys need to look at the bright side. It could have been worse n/t

[karlrschneider]

7. No shit, they're lucky KBR didn't pay them with

Monopoly money...
:eyes:

[KG]

8. Home to Houston

Home to Houston

Steve Earle

When I pulled out of Basra they all wished me luck
Just like they always did before
With a bulletproof screen on the hood of my truck
And a Bradley on my back door
And I wound her up and shifted her down
And I offered this prayer to my lord
I said “God get me back home to Houston alive
and I won’t drive a truck anymore”

Early in the mornin’ and I’m rollin’ fast
Haulin’ nine thousand gallons of high test gas
Sergeant on the radio hollerin’ at me
Look out up ahead here come a R.P.G.
If I ever get home to Houston alive
Then I won’t drive a truck anymore

I’ve driven the big rigs for all of my life
And my radio handle’s “Train”
Down steep mountain roads on the darkest of nights
I had ice water in my veins
And I come over here ‘cause I just didn’t care
Now I’m older and wiser by far
If I ever get home to Houston alive
Then I won’t drive a truck anymore

Great God A’mighty what was wrong with me
I know the money’s good but buddy can’t you see
You can’t take it with you and that ain’t no lie
I don’t wanna let ‘em get me I’m too young to die
If I ever get home to Houston alive
Then I won’t drive a truck anymore

[KG]

9. i love the 'a way to serve his country' angle. wonder if these guys would do it for

infantrymans pay? not likely.

[Contrary1]

10. Not like the troops who have no choice as to whether they go or not...

and they make the big $$$, while the lowly paid troops guard them.
So, sue KBR for the unarmored vehicles.

:nopity: