The Forgotten Soldiers

As we hear the daily news from Iraq, many of us pay attention to number of soldiers killed in a recent attack. However, most of us ignore the other number - the number of wounded. This war is creating an epidemic. As of this date, September 10, 2007, the Pentagon has reported 27,767 soldiers wounded in Iraq. However, some experts believe that this number is low because it may not include those soldiers who are sent back into the field after recovering from an injury. These experts have estimated the actual number of wounded to be anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000. Still, if we accept the Pentagon's official count, it is certainly not negligible. These are soldiers who need extended medical treatment and rehabilitation. Many are not able to hold jobs after returning to civilian life. According to a recent AP article, thousands of soldiers have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and 20% of them will suffer "prolonged or lifelong symptoms and need continuing care." The article focuses only on that one type of injury - TBI. There are thousands more who have lost vision, hearing, use of limbs, etc. also facing the same need for continuing care. Does Bush care? No. The funding under his administration and the former Republican controlled Congress allowed horrendous conditions to exist in our Veterans Hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Things are improving, but the deficit created by GWB and company is monstrous and will take decades to correct. Of course, that is assuming that Americans are intelligent enough not to put another war-mongering puppet into the White House. And that is a big assumption to make.