War and the financial strains on the family are just another way that the war in Iraq makes me angry.
Sgt. John J. Savage III, an Army reservist, was about to climb onto a troop transport plane for a flight to Iraq from Fayetteville, N.C., when his wife called with alarming news: "They're foreclosing on our house."
Sergeant Savage recalled, "There was not a thing I could do; I had to jump on the plane and boil for 22 hours."
He had reason to be angry. A longstanding federal law strictly limits the ability of his mortgage company and other lenders to foreclose against active-duty service members.
The full article is hear.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032805F.shtml
Often our reserve soldiers are sent off to active duty with less pay than they were making at their civillian job. The "pay gap" is a hidden cost of war that likely affects thousands of a state's reservists and National Guard troops as they transition from more lucrative civilian jobs to active duty. It is an extra burden for families already dealing with the pain of separation and the stress of having a loved one in a combat zone. This certainly can put a strain on a family to keep up with the mortgage payments. This is why the federal law protecting active duty soldier from foreclosure by mortgage companies is such an important law. But the help is not automatic. Soldiers and sailors have to ask for it and provide proof of their call-up.
But the biggest problem
both bankers and military lawyers say, is that the enforcement of the act rests initially on the shoulders of the service members themselves. They must notify their creditors or landlords of their military status to invoke their rights under the act. It is one more chore for a soldier getting ready for overseas duty, and it often does not get done properly.
And if a landlord or creditor, out of ignorance or intransigence, refuses to comply with the act, the service member may not have the time or money to fight back, said Capt. Kevin P. Flood, a retired Navy lawyer.
I have these images of the spouse left at home trying to deal with a home foreclosure notice, worrying about whether their spouse will be killed or injured, and coping with taking care of the children all alone.
"It's the shame of the service. Reservists give up everything normal in their lives to fly halfway around the world to fight terror, only to take a huge hit in income back at home," Schumer said. "If a reservist bought a house at his old salary and his wife and kids are still living in it, no bank is going to cut his mortgage 60% just because that's the salary hit he's taking to do his duty. We need to step up to the plate to help companies keep the jobs and paychecks coming until the reservists come back home to us."
http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/press_releases/2005/PR40099.ReservistsSunday13005.pf.html
This unjust war is getting out of control. Ours soldiers cannot afford to pay their bills. Our government is using the reservists as their central army. It's one thing to spend occasional months away from their families and their careers. It is quite another to spend a year or more in active duty, only to have further call ups possible in the near future. Under this Administration, they are no longer citizen soldiers. They are treated as full time troops. This is absolultely unacceptable.