A major case of stupid

A short time ago an old high school friend of mine turned me on to a little YouTube video that was making the rounds on Facebook with the note, “I thought you might like this. Go get ‘em Dan.”

Curious, I clicked on it. Then I was flabbergasted. At the end of it I was fist-pumping, wishing the entire time I could have been there ringside with a bag of popcorn. What caused this? Well, have a seat and I will tell you all about it.

It all took place during a U.S. House hearing about some shady practices at the Internal Revenue Service. In this case, it was IRS contractor and Strong Castle Inc. CEO Braulio Castillo. Somehow, he managed to wrangle a bunch of veteran’s preference business loan contracts after obtaining a VA inuring rating of 30 percent.

He used a claim of twisting his ankle as a young man in the U.S. military preparatory school, also known as West Point Prep, playing football close to 30 years ago. These contracts are valued at $500 million or more. Yet he never served a day in uniform as a soldier. This got the attention of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

My response changed from curious to flabbergasted when I saw the video. At first, Castillo is sitting in a House chamber looking puzzled as to why he is there in the first place. That would become very clear shortly.

Across from him sat Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois. From the expression on Castillo’s face, he had no clue about Duckworth’s biography. Let me fill you in. First, she has earned another title and rank, that of lieutenant colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard. She flew Black Hawk helicopters in the war in Iraq with the 106th Aviation Regiment, 28th Infantry Division.

On Nov. 12, 2004, then Capt. Duckworth was flying as co-pilot in a UH-60 Black Hawk when it took a hit from a rocket propelled grenade fired from the ground by the enemy. The aircraft crashed and Capt. Duckworth lost both legs and nearly her right arm. She was the first female double amputee of the Iraq war. She received a Purple Heart, Air Medal and the Army Commendation Medal for her service to this nation. Unlike Castillo, this woman served in uniform — in spades.

Here’s your cue to pop some corn, sit back and enjoy the fireworks.

You are probably familiar with the old Army expression, “(excrement) rolls downhill.” This guy was about to take delivery of a truckload. The video is worth watching; my words don’t do it justice.

Here’s where it really starts getting good.

Rep. Duckworth: “Do you feel that the 30 percent rating you have for the scars and the pain in your foot is accurate to the sacrifices that you’ve made for this nation?

Mr. Castillo: “Yes, ma’am I do.”

She then explained how her right arm was nearly blown off and was reattached, how she couldn’t feel three of her fingers and that, even after dozens of surgeries, she may lose her right arm.

“My disability rating for my arm is 20 percent,” she said.

Rep. Duckworth followed by quoting from Castillo’s letter of disability: “The crosses I bear due to my service to our country, and I would do it again to protect this great country.”

There was nary a pause before she went after him again.

Rep. Duckworth: “I’m so glad you are willing to play football in prep school for this country. Shame on you, Mr. Castillo. Shame on you. You may have not broken any laws. We’re not sure yet. But you broke the trust of veterans.”

She went on to blast him in one of the best chewing outs I have ever seen — like about how long the returning Iraq and Afghanistan war vets have to wait an average of more than 247 days for their claims to go through. These are active-duty veterans who put their lives on the line for this nation, who lost limbs, have post-traumatic stress disorder and more, and are trying to get help for their time in war.

While this person fakes military service to make a buck — a lot of bucks — one of her final barbs was this: “Twisting your ankle in prep school is not defending or serving this nation.”

This was where I was fist pumping and yelling. “Yeah! Get some!”

People like Mr. Castillo need a good swift kick in the rear with a large boot. And people like Rep. Duckworth deserve a high five from all of us, veterans and civilians alike. I am very glad she is on our side.

The bottom line is this — people are scamming our VA system, which is designed to help returning veterans from the war. They need to be routed out and tossed out on their collective rears.

You know, if an Army non-commissioned officer like myself had the chance to do the same thing it would have been a lot more, shall we say, colorful.

Seriously, people like Mr. Castillo need to be exposed as to what they truly are and removed from the system permanently.

He may not have broken laws (I get the funny feeling he did) but I’m sure he will be looked over with a very large microscope. And new laws will be put in place. Until then, spreading the word about this creep is one way to even the score.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.