Kennedy instrumental in improving armor for troops in Iraq, Afghanistan
(NECN: Greg Wayland) – Senator Edward Kennedy is known for being instrumental in many pieces of important legislation. One of them was for the country’s men and women in uniform. Kennedy worked with the family of John Hart, who died in Iraq, to pass legislation getting improved armor for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. NECN’s Greg Wayland has more on Kennedy’s work for the troops. He was gentle and caring – and always dreamed of being a soldier. 9/11 intensified that yearning. John Hart enlisted on his nineteenth birthday and by July, 2003 he was serving in Iraq. Then one October night, he made a fateful call to his parents and two young sisters in Bedford, Mass. John had been in combat for just a few months, but he was worried. John told his father the Humvees in which he and his fellow troops were traveling lacked adequate armor protection. But just days later, on October 18th, 2003, John was killed in an ambush just south of Kirkuk. This is when Senator Ted Kennedy entered the lives of this Texas-born couple who most often voted Republican and initially supported the war in Iraq. Kennedy had called to express his condolences, asking if he could help. Kennedy also attended John Hart’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The Harts told him about john’s phone call. About his fears and the lack of armor. The senator’s military attaché took notes. Congress learned there were barely any armored Humvees in all of northern Iraq and only a couple of hundred anywhere among the 35 thousand U.S vehicles in the theatre of combat operations. In August, 2004, at Senator Kennedy’s urging, congress passed a supplemental military budget — the first since the Korean War. There were only two dissenting votes. But that was just the beginning of the Harts and the Senator’s campaign for better equipment for the troops. “People started calling us, family members of soldiers, would call us to ask us to anonymously ask on their behalf — Senator Kennedy to ask questions in the Senate and that’s actually how it happened.” Brian Hart continued asking questions — and says he continued to get help from the senator meeting shortages of ammunition, body armor and medical supplies. And, he says, facts kept colliding with defense department claims. By end of 2005, all Humvees leaving bases in Iraq and Afghanistan were retro-fitted or factory-built with armor and soon were bolstered by the heavily armored m-wrap vehicles. And the Harts — who turned activists in memory of their son — say Senator Kennedy supported them every step of the way.
