An excerpt of the "Editor's letter" of this month's issue of "Vanity Fair", by the ever stylish Graydon Carter...

"The Pentagon has also found a novel way of recovering some of the $240 billions it has spent to fight its losing war in Iraq : charge soldiers for gear destroyed in battle. First Lieutenant William "Eddie" Rebrook IV, a 25-year-old West Virginian, found out about this new military income stream the hard way. He was riding in the turret of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle last year when it was hit by a roadside bomb. Rebrook's arm was wounded and he was picked up by a Black Hawk helicopter and taken to a combat hospital in Bagdad. When he turned his gear in early this year, prior to heading home, he was ordered to pay nearly $700 for the equipment that was destroyed in the attack, including $570 for the Kevlar vest he had been wearing. Not really knowing what to do, Rebrook borrowed the money from his pals in the First Cavalry Division and paid the U.S. Army. When WKWS, a local Charleston, West Virginia, radio station, reported the story, donations flooded in -more than 200 of them, according to americablog, for a total of $5400. Rebrook, who graduated with honors from West Point, isn't keeping the money. He's giving some of it to the mother of a soldier who helped save his life in Iraq; her house was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The rest, he's giving to charity."

"With flowers and candy", they said...

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