doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com WOUNDED WARRIOR PAWNS HIS PURPLE HEARTS O/T

I was just reading a blurb on Huffington Post about a soldier who was wounded twice in Afganistan, home on leave, who had to pawn or sell his two purple hearts at a pawn shop to make ends meet, The shop owner, Bryan VandenBosch, was quoted to say that he would not sell the medals in hope that the soldier could reclaim them. A lot of folks have it tough around the holidays but this story struck home. I remember my Navy days when I had to hock my graduation watch almost every month to buy baby formula. I figured that I could kick in a few bucks to get this guy's medals back & I figured that there might be a few others here who would as well.

The Shop is Named: A-Z Outlet, 221 N. River Ave., Holland, MI 49424 & the phone number is (616) 738-1603. If anyone here lives near there & could check it out & let us know the tab I'll send him my check.

Best Regards, George

Holland is about 40 clicks due West from me George. I'll give Mr. Vandenbosch a call and find out what's up with this- I don't know Huffington from Adam's off ox-- but apparently you do, and if you say they have the straight dope on this situation, I'll look into it and get back to you by your private e-mail down in the Palmetto State- where I see on the evening news you are having 80 degree summer weather-- enjoy-- and Merry Xmas too- RWTF

I'm not going to encourage or discourage anyone from donating their money to this, but I do have a couple questions and a couple suggestions.

Q1. Why does this particular soldier not have enough money to make ends meet, such that he decided (of all things) he had to pawn his purple hearts? Why is he so in debt or overcommitted that he did this? Doesn't he get paid twice a month? His creditors can't wait? He can't invoke the Soldier's and Sailor's Act (the one which precludes suits and judgments against servicemembers by their creditors) against his creditors? Why didn't he "lose" his TA-50 (or even just his rain parka) - he'd have gotten more for that than he could for a purple heart or two?

Q2. Why would any pawn shop want to loan against these medals? You can buy just about any medal (save a Medal of Honor) on EBay or from the various sutlers and Army-Navy surplus outfits for well under $100. The value involved is minimal - doing the paperwork would make it unprofitable.

Q3. You mean to tell me his first sergeant or sergeant major didn't have a little slush fund set aside in the company to loan to soldiers who are coming up short? Every first sergeant and sergeant major I've ever known either had one or could point to someone who did. Not a lot of money - a couple hundred at most - but enough to tide over a soldier who had a bad series of events hit him all at once. And it was for legitimate debts or problems - which this situation does not strike me as being.

This strikes me as the kind of public relations stunt that gets sprung just in advance of the holidays to get everyone talking about it over the holiday dinner and, in so doing, guide the discussion for the coming months or year or so. We're about due to have this pop up now, because stories like this are the kind of thing that takes a couple days to propagate. I remember the Great Ebonics Scandal of 1995 or 1996, which got sprung right before the holidays, set off angry conversations over many holiday tables, and you still remember today. It was also total bullshit. This is more of the same thing. "Oh, the poor soldiers" we're supposed to feel, and genuflect while reaching for our wallets. He volunteered for the privilege of serving and, if he's so irresponsible or feckless with his money that he decided to pawn his medals, he should be chaptered to make room for a better, more responsible replacement.

Oh, and this pawn shop now has its name, address, phone and contact info spread all over the web in front of many, many eyes and the soft minds behind them. Pretty effective free advertising spread for free, no?

Second suggestion: This belongs on the odds-and-ends thread until such time as it disappears from the web.

Dave I am a retired First Sergeant and no we did not have slush funds. 8 years ago when I was in an E-5 with 3 kids qualified for food stamps. Like you though I do have questions about this. As you say the medals are worth very little it's the act that is worth everything. If he lost any of his gear and it was found out by inspection or whatever, he is required to go sign for replacement gear and the money will be taken out of his next paycheck. The government is very slow to pay anyone what it owes to them. It's very fast and efficient at collecting what it is owed. What ticks me off about your post the most you have already condemned someone of being an unfit soldier. That seems at odds being that you said that you believe the whole thing is fiction. I've seen many good soldiers and marines that had financial problems due too many different factors. I never chaptered anyone out that for that reason alone. Just my 2 cents.

Hello, I agree with Mike. I'm a retired MSG (US Army) and I can attest to what Mike has said. There is NO slush funds that I was ever aware of. Now, I have loaned money to a couple of my troops (this can be a very bad idea, but you have to judge the situation at hand). Money can be very tight, especially for those troops who are in the E-1 to E-5 pay grades, the moves, deployments and cost of living off post (if approved) can really strap a family.

The Army frowns on debt and many who want to make the Army their home for 20 years will do anything to stay out of debt. You don't know how many calls you get from used car dealers etc wanting their payments, prior to pay day. So I can see were some guys pawn lots of their stuff. Believe me, there are more Pawn Stores and other "Businesses" that prey on young soldiers outside of a base than you can shake a stick at.

As to this situation, I don't know all the facts. It does seem like the Pawn Store owner is being a good soul. I think he's loaning the money on faith more than anything.

As Mike said, just my 2c

All the best!

Greg

Time for the William Sydney Porter ending- I just spoke to bryan on the phone- and in the true spirit of both Christmas, and honoring our Vets- his medals are being returned post haste, and some local Brother members of the Legion post in Holland are taking care of this Vet's needs-- maybe NOt the Gift of the Magi, but close- Thanks George, for your kind gesture and offer to help, we need more folks in America who think like you do> RWTF

Fair enough. I called it a "slush fund", insofar as top sergeants always seemed to have money available when it was needed for good purposes like emergencies that needed to be met. And I recall having troops living on the economy in Germany where all they could afford was a barely-heated garage because they got so little pay, there was not any on-post housing to be had, and the mark exchange rate was really bad. And I had one of my squad leaders chaptered out for bad debts.

I also recognize there are a lot of sleazy folks surrounding every base, preying on junior soldiers. It's a given. But, if this kid doesn't know how to deal with that, either he wasn't listening or his chain of command failed him by not teaching him properly.

And, not to put too fine of a point on it, but "losing" your TA-50 at the back door of the surplus store is a good way to get the Army to give you an sort-of-interest-free loan for a month or so. It takes at least that long for a survey to hit your pay. He'd be back off leave and, possibly, out in the field where money is a lesser need.

All that said, the whole situation smells bad. As in "bogus". I have never heard of a pawnbroker who would loan money because he had a "good heart"; they hear every sob story the world has invented and survive as businesses only if they make money. "Good-heartedness" and making money are not mutually dependent - they might happen and they might not. To be frank, if I were the pawnbroker's landlord, I'd be making sure my security deposit was paid up and do what I could under the lease to make sure my rent was going to be paid because I'd be concerned he was running his business into the ground through bad judgment and this was Exhibit A of it.

But, if you want to give money to this, knock yourself out. It's your money, after all. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't want to be ratifying whatever got the soldier into this fix by ponying up my money.

When I was in the Army, I was aware of many instances where hundred dollar items were pawned for quite a bit less. Even adjusting for inflation, some kids needed twenty dollars to make through the week. That pawnbroker may have simply figured out a way to get a bunch of mileage for his advertising dollar.

When I clicked the link, I got a sucker warning that my computer needed checking for a possible virus. I've had this happen before and it was a PIA malware that took forever to remove. I don't know for sure if it was the above link's site or something earlier, but for heavens sake don't get suckered into "checking your computer" by clicking any link. I had to turn the computer off by the switch. This can be nasty stuff on the computer. Gil