NCO - No Compassion Observed

After serving this country for over twenty years, we are now holed up in a makeshift bunker smack in the middle of a long forgotten ghost town, and pinching pennies for groceries and medications. Why? The military illegally took our future away with the stroke of a pen, because of Lyme Disease. Did we complain? You bet. Did we provide documentation of their illegal actions? Affirmative. Did we find resolution? Not on your life. This story is about the most difficult decision a soldier has to make -- his career or his wife's life. It's about the courage of our family, who believes enough in truth, justice, and the American way, to confront the integrity of the United States Army in order to preserve those same values. We took a stance -- one that has literally brought us to our knees. The military would prefer we remain in limbo, forever isolated from the tribe, where once we played by the rules, followed orders, and learned never ever to question protocol. We asked one question, but that was one too many. That one question sent us to purgatory. Purgatory, that nebulous in-between land of the dead and forgotten is where we live now. We have been waiting here for almost a year; listed AWOL and stripped of everything we labored for. Still waiting for truth, justice, and the American way. Isn't this why we served?