The Below editorial was received from Vincent Esposito, a member of Carpenter’s Local #1856, who is also in the U.S. Army, who shared his point of view of an allegedly staggering situation that he states currently exists in the U.S. military.

“I am a member of Carpenters Local Union 1856, and I am currently in the Army. I wanted to share what I have noticed here. We are worked until exhaustion, yet our own soldiers, at the lower pay rates of e-4 to e-1 are regularly on food stamps if they have a small family. We are a country where our Military members that are already being paid by the government need MORE government help to stay above water.

Union’s provide the USA’s citizens with an honest day’s wages for an honest day’s work, and your members don’t need the government’s aid. It seems even our government cannot grasp what the unions have. They have what I call the “Walmart Complex” where the Federal government pays it’s soldiers so little that they must then turn to state funded welfare, which is funded by the federal government anyway. And the vicious cycle continues. Thank The USA For Our Unions, without them, good hard working men like my brother, myself, my grandfather and my father probably would not have had a fair chance in this world. Feel free to share.”

Vincent Esposito
U.S. Army, Carpenter’s Local #1856

PHILLYLBOR.COM EDITORIAL REPLY: How can a staggering situation like this exist where some American soldiers need to live in a welfare state in order to make ends meet for their families while they are “still” in the U.S. military? I can’t imagine asking people to be on call for the purpose of potentially sacrificing their lives for our freedom and them having to be on welfare to do it?

If this is true, it’s a disgrace of epic proportions that needs to be remedied immediately in order for all of us, as Americans, to be able to wake up every morning, in the wake of the freedom that we enjoy because of the heroics of generations of these young military heroes, and have the nerve to look at ourselves in the mirror while we are brushing our teeth.

As per the sentiment of Vincent’s letter, Thank God For Unions in America, where a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay is worth fighting for! Evidently, the dignity of protecting our freedom isn’t worth as much!