In most countries, Jeans Cruz would be a national hero. But not in America, or at least not for this war. See, Army Spec. Cruz was a scout, and a damn good one. And on a night back in Iraq, he tracked down an enemy who was hiding in a spider hole. He helped capture one Saddam Hussein.
Upon arriving home, politicians tripped over themselves to get their pictures taken with Jeans Cruz, the mayor of New York, officials from his family's town back in Puerto Rico and the borough president all gave him silk sashes for parades and plaques aplenty. But when he needed them most, they all disappeared.
What can you expect from a country that was only outraged about Walter Reed for a few brief weeks, until some new shinier scandal came along.
And now the soldier who was there to capture Enemy #1 sits in behind a bullet-pocked steel door in a New York City housing project, abandoned by all who used him as a prop. Because, this is how America treats its heros.
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