Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-02-12
c. w. Seems to Have Hit the Jackpot

utterly stupid letter about military pay
and benefits signed by &C. w." which
appeared in The Star of February 2.
The writer Of that piece of nonsense is
either terribly misinformed, drunk, or
in the pay Of some faction trying to
cause disSension between civilian and
military personnel. His ideas about :.
Well, excuse me, am little too Q'd
of to take his missive apart and COM
ment on the several misStatements. I
hope someone not as mad as I will
find time to do the job
Major, USAF.
Greenbelt. Md.
l. part of the salaries OF men in unit
form is exempt from income tGr." Doubt
less c. w. Is living in the past. During
World War II Congress saw fit to exempt
portions of armed service pay from the
income tax. But these provisions were
allowed to lapse on January l, 1948 for
those who remained In the services.
2. "Serpicemen buy their food at COM
missGries TOR about 40 percent of tDhat
the ciDilidn pays II, the chain groceries"
Service commissaries afford q saving Of
perhaps 5 to 10 percent on some items,
such as canned goods. But on others.
particularly fresh vegetables. prices in
civilian stores are considerably lower, and
my wife buys off-post at every oppor-
tunity.
g. "Seruice personnel and their families
haze no WorrieS about medical, dental.
or hospital bills. They get such care
for nothing" This Is only half truth.
The service person gets his care. But his
family receives only such care as the
service is able to give without depriving
service personnel. In recent years this
has meant no dental care for families
and only emergency medical care.
T. "Eper since the excise tar tDns int
posed, serDicemen haze been able to buy
luxury items at the PIX tar-tree." Such
a remark is more proof positive that c.
w. Is living in the past. Until about
September /, 1949. this statement was
true. Since that date, service exchanges
have been forbidden to sell any luxury
item costing more than few dollars.
And the Federal excise tax has been
charged on all items. exactly as it is in
civilian stores.
and laundry serpice are provided at cost
u LfLC IkONS HttttCu " POcGos L ol10AAA
like to find one of these generous posts.
At present fill my car every time visit
Washington, since find the prices there
are less than the Virginia prices I pay
at the post gas station. And my wife
sends most Of our laundry to Wash
ington firm which is able to commute
all the way to the post and do our work
for the same price charged on the post.
g. Men in uniform also are exempt
from certain automobile tares in the
Uarious localities tphere they liUe." To an
extent this is true. If a serviceman
registers his car in the State Of his legal
residence, he pays no other State or
local automobile taxes. I have lived in
as many as five States within one year.
Would c. w. have me buy new tag
every time I was ordered to new loca-
ton for the convenience OF our country?
Z. c. W. merit compares ciDiI serDice
pay and retirement. have had numer-
Gus civil service employees working for
me and they usually made as much or
more than I. I would gladly trade my
pay and retirement prospects for those
of a civil service worker holding the
responsibilities or doing the job expected
Of me.
8. practically every man In uniform
gets more money than he could In chill
ian life" This is difficult statement to
either prove or disprove. However, I
have turned down positions paying con-
siderably more than my pay.
8. C. w. finally remarks on huge oDer-
payments, ETC., Without action against
any one, in the "Armys st. Louis
o,,I1, xut, hou wood
in the papers about that. but we have
apparently been reading different papers
Perhaps c. w. was reading the Daily
Worker.
J. ]. Upchurch.
c. w. should take look at the ribbons
adjoining the breasts Of the favored"
personnel who sit at desks at various
military Offices and installations around
the country. He would find Purple Heart
Ribbons galore-each representing a
bodily wound in defense of America (and
such persons as C. W.; on the ribbons
of the European, Atlantic, and Pacific
Theaters of Combat he would note many
Bronze and Silver Stars. In my own
outfit there is an officer who wears the
Congressional Medal of Honor. This
uldll ulO llOU SC1 OAldV OCSO1 ub1Oh AVA
sitting at desk, but he's behind one now.
Navyman.
c. w. says: when they (service peo-
ple) retire, they receive generous pen
sions toward which they have not con-
tributed penny" He should study the
Hook Commission Report on which the
Career Compensation Act Of 1949 was
based. It shows that retirement benefits
were very definitely counted in deter
mining fair pay scale for servicemen.
e. E. HI.
Why don't people such as c. w. present
both sides of the story in their letters SO
that the subject can receive fair con-
sideration? II it were not for people or
rather men and women such as we in the
Armed Forces, he would have lost all he
now holds long, long ago and would not
have been able to write such an aSinine
letter as he did.
Corpl. F. S. Taylor, Jr.