N.H. Soldier Will Receive Bonus, Congressman Says
BONUS
New Hampshire Union Leader
Jenny Paul
Boston University Washington News Service
September 18, 2008
WASHINGTON – A soldier from Keene, N.H., who returned from Iraq in July will receive a $3,000 refund from the military for bonus pay that was given to him and later revoked, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) said Thursday.
Kevin Steven Clark II, 24, was promised a $14,000 bonus for agreeing to serve in a combat unit when he visited an Army recruiting office in 2005, said his mother, Jane Clark. After enlisting, Clark was sent to Ft. Stewart, Ga., and then served in Iraq for 15 months. Spc. Clark received $3,000 of the bonus before military officials told him that he had been sent to Iraq with a unit that did not qualify for the bonus and ordered him to repay the money, his mother said.
“He was paying this back while he was in combat,” she said of her son, who is currently stationed at Ft. Stewart.
Jane Clark and her husband asked Hodes to help their son after hearing the congressman interviewed on a local radio show last spring. Hodes secured the refund after writing to Defense Secretary Robert Gates to explain the situation.
“This was a case that seemed to cry out for help,” Hodes said. “I wanted to make sure that especially when it involves somebody who’s put their life on the line for this country that the U.S. government is going to do right by the person. That is my job.”
In a letter to Hodes, military officials said Spc. Clark was “erroneously paid” the bonus because his unit did not qualify for it, but the money would be refunded “as a matter of equity.” Hodes said Army officials shouldn’t be calling the bonus payments a mistake.
“It’s hard for me to believe that they can say that with a straight face when they’re paying him the money back,” he said. “I think the mistake was the Army’s practicing a bait-and-switch on a brave soldier.”
The bonus “was contingent on successful completion of training and assignment to a designated unit as determined by Department of the Army,” Maj. Nathan Banks, an Army spokesman, said in an e-mail Thursday.
Jane Clark said her son wants to attend college to study special education after he is discharged from the military in December. Her son was told he would receive his refund within 30 days.
He is working with military officials to see if he is eligible to receive the rest of the $14,000 that was promised, she said. The decision of whether to pay the full bonus rests with Army officials, Hodes’ office said.
Kevin Clark is not allowed to speak to the media about the matter because he is still an active member of the military, his mother and representatives from Hodes’ office said.
“We’re really happy that working with Congressman Hodes has gotten the ball rolling and gotten the Army to see that these kids deserve their money,” Jane Clark said. “They’re over there protecting us and fighting in a nasty war. And if you promise someone something, you need to follow through.”
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