Where the United States military has fallen short, two Midwesterners are trying to fill the gap by supplying an Army platoon with bullet-resistant body armor.

Using their Web site as a fund-raising tool, Rich Kyanka and Zack Parsons say they have nearly reached their goal of raising at least $20,000 to buy insert plates for bulletproof vests. The inserts will increase the vests’ resistance against assault rifle bullets.

Parsons instigated the fund-raiser, which began last week on www.somethingawful.com, a Web site belonging to Kyanka, of Lee’s Summit, Mo. Kyanka started the site a few years ago. It focuses mostly on political humor columns he and others have written and provides a forum for readers.

Outmoded equipment

The body armor drive started Monday, after a message was posted on the site’s forum board by a soldier with the Army’s 25th Infantry Division. The soldier says his platoon isn’t expecting to get modern body armor when it is sent to Iraq next month.

“That really struck me,” said Parsons, 25, Chicago, who writes a regular column on the Web site for Kyanka, 27. “Here’s a guy, one of our many readers, who actually needs our help and we thought we’d reach out and try to help.”

The soldier posting the message goes by the handle GreenMeat. He is a staff sergeant and leader of a 20-man platoon stationed in Hawaii. He told Web site readers that his unit wasn’t considered to have “front line priority” for the new body armor, Parsons said.

After the fund drive started, an additional 11 soldiers were added to GreenMeat’s platoon.

Parsons and Kyanka declined to specifically identify GreenMeat but said they knew who he was. Friday their Web page posted a photograph of the sergeant and part of his platoon.

SomethingAwful.com Reliance Armor Systems

After checking with several private companies, Parsons got Reliance Armor Systems Inc., Cincinnati, to agree to supply insert plates that will fit inside the basic bullet resistant vests. Arrangements were made to have the inserts shipped directly to the platoon leader, Parsons said.

Two insert plates are needed for each vest, one covering the front of the torso and one covering the back, Parsons said. Each plate costs about $300, which is a discounted price the supplier agreed to, he said.

Strong support

Contributions for the project are made through Paypal, an Internet payment system. Parsons and Kyanka say they realize they can only give their word as a promise that they won’t take the money and run. But both claimed they wouldn’t be talking to the media if they were looking to rip off contributors.

Parsons and Kyanka said they were stunned at the support the fund drive had received in only a few days.

Within 24 hours after the fund drive was announced about $13,000 was raised, they said. As of Friday the amount had increased to about $16,000. Donations have come not only from the United States but also from people in Great Britain, Germany and Denmark, they said.

“Even though it (the war) can be a political issue, I think people realize they need to support the soldiers,” Kyanka said. “We prefer not to have people die.”

Army disapproves

The Army, however, doesn’t endorse what Parsons and Kyanka are doing, said Maj. Gary Tallman, Army spokesman at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

“I would recommend that they stop because the Army is procuring the newer interceptor body systems,” Tallman said. “The plan has been in place for several months. They will get them eventually.”

The Army is getting about 25,000 sets of body armor a month, Tallman said. Body armor sold to the public might not meet military standards and the military is required to use equipment that meets those standards, he said.

“I commend them, because everybody wants to take care of soldiers,” Tallman said of Parsons and Kyanka. “So do we, and we want to do it with certified and approved systems.”

The military is paying about $1,600 each for the modern sets of body armor, Tallman said.

Nevertheless, Parsons and Kyanka said they weren’t changing their plans if an Army platoon wants the body armor they are sending.

“Best of luck to those guys,” Parsons said. “I respect what they’re doing. I want them to come home in one piece.”