[NinjaPoodle]

FIGHT FOR SHOSHANA JOHNSON By Christine Phillip, BET.com Staff
Writer, October 24, 2003

Army Spec. Shoshana Johnson, the African American woman who was
held prisoner of war in the U.S. invasion of Iraq, was looking
forward to a quiet discharge from the Army in a few days. Battle
scarred and weary, she has said not a word as her fellow POW
comrade in arms Jessica Lynch cashes in with book and movie
deals and a celebrity status in the media. But it is the Army
that is forcing Johnson to break her peace.

A few days ago, military brass informed her that she would
receive a 30 percent disability benefit for her injuries. Lynch,
who is White, was discharged in August and will receive an 80
percent disability benefit. The difference amounts to $600 or
$700 a month in payments, and that is causing Johnson and her
family to speak out. They are so troubled by what they see as a
"double standard," that they have enlisted Rev. Jesse Jackson to
help make their case to the news media. Jackson, who plans to
plead Johnson's cause with the White House, the Pentagon and
members of Congress, says the payment smacks of a double
standard and racism. "Here's a case of two women, same [unit],
same war; everything about their service commitment and their
risk is equal. . . . Yet there's an enormous contrast between
how the military has handled these two cases," Jackson told The
Washington Post.

Johnson's father, Claude Johnson, himself an Army veteran, says
that while neither he nor his family begrudge Lynch her
celebrity or disability payments, he believes that his daughter
should get her due, and it is more than a 30 percent disability
benefit. For its part, the Army, in denying charges of double
standard, said Friday that claims are awarded to soldiers
according to their injuries.

Johnson, 30, the mother of a 3-year-old daughter, was held
captive for 22 days, when her unit stumbled into an ambush in
southern Iraq last March. Eleven soldiers were killed, and six,
including Lynch and Johnson, were taken prisoners. Johnson was
shot in both legs and is still traumatized by her war
experience. In addition to walking with a limp, she suffers from
bouts of depression. So I ask that you forward this email on to
all and inform others of this latest racial attack.

Forget about the destroying of stamps, forget about Kobe, forget
about Michael Jordan getting fired and fight for the rights of
this strong Black Woman!!!