OT Head wounds

Was watching GMA this morning, they had Bob Woodward on. He is the ABC news anchor that was hit by a I E D. Or in my time, a command detonated mine or booby trap. Anyway, a year has gone by since he suffered a serious brain injury from which he has partially recovered. He was saying this morning that it seems that the a lot of the head injuries are not being included in the causality figure's. He alluded to the number being in the thousands. There is a special on tonight about him and others that suffered a like injury at 10PM that should be real interesting. Do ya think that they lied about the number of wia's? Our government, nah.

Reply to
Roy
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Woodruff, not Woodward. Bob Woodward's the Watergate guy.

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

Ooops. I did that didn't I. Sorry my bad!

Reply to
Roy

I recently read something similar. The wia to kia ratio in Vietnam was something on the order of 6 or 7 to 1 whereas the ratio in Iraq is more like

17 or 18 to 1 with a significant portion of those being brain related trauma due to being exposed to explosive shock. The point of the story was that the next couple of generations are going to be paying a steep cost for veterans health care, particularly for the mentally impaired and disabled vets.
Reply to
Electrician

The thing about this is in Viet Nam we did not have the body armor, so those hit although traumatically in the head would die of other wound's throughout their body. I spent a year in a hospital in PA, there was this building set off by itself that all the head wound were housed in.. There were a couple of hundred beds in it I think. It was so damn sad, they never came out of there, and we couldn't go in.

Of course now Bush has cut the funding for the VA. So now what meager support they could receive is now even less. That just sucks!!!

Reply to
Roy

I am also a Vietnam era vet but never served in country. It makes me sick to see the body bags coming home and the disabled vets struggling to adapt to their disabilities. I had hoped we had learned something from the experience in Vietnam but apparently not. Sadly it looks like more of the same until there is a change in administration.

Reply to
Electrician

Notice that Bush stopped the media from showing the coffins as they arrived at Andrews.

We are still dealing with the same friggin' BS that claimed that there was nothing with Agent Orange, no harm comes from exposure to it. No such thing as PTSD, I could go on forever. I went to the VA once, they had a group called Combat Veteran's Anonymous, kinda like AA. It was decent and was run by combat vet's not really the VA.

Hell, we had to put up our own monument, The Wall. But that was pretty much our choice, Nam vet's had enough of government.

I watched the show last night, about had me in tears. But he has and is going after the VA. At least now vet's have a advocate that has balls, clout and no other agenda imo.

Reply to
Roy

Electrician wrote: I had hoped we had learned something from the experience

We haven't learned anything from any other conflict we've been for 200+ years, why would this be any different? You think this all "The Administrations" fault. AKA- all Bush's fault. In reality, it's an American fault. As a general rule, we don't have a solid history of taking good care of our wounded. Sad, but true. It's more dramatic now, because we are saving more wounded lives than ever before. It's not going to change in the next administration, either.

Reply to
.boB

I meant to refer to the fact that we will never get our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan until there is a new administration. And I do consider both quagmires the direct fault of Bush (who deserted while in the Guard) and his draft evading sidekick Cheney (4 deferments while in school). I just hope he doesn't have time left to start another one with Iran.

Reply to
Electrician

I did notice that but the networks would probably have quit showing them anyway. They find topics like the death of Anna Nichole Smith and other such horseshit to be more important and interesting.

Iraq and Afghanistan will be no different than Vietnam or the first Iraq war. Once it's over the veterans will be forgotten by everyone else except other veterans. If there is to be a monument to the sacrifice of our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan it will be up to the veterans to make it happen.

Did you know the Base Realignment and Closure commission is still operating? I think that says it all. Let's close some more bases while our troops are stretched so thin they are having to spend 3 or 4 tours in the butthole of the world.

Reply to
Electrician

I think this is the first time a administration felt the need to hide it's war dead as they were brought home.

The VA and the military is charged with takeing care of our wounded. The admistration controls the VA. Hell he appointed the chair of the republican commitee to run the VA. Sorta like the guy he appointed to run FEMA. Of course now at we are involved in this mess, the administration cut's the funding for the VA. Do you hear of any new military hospitals opening to care for the wounded? Nope, they are still closing facilities. Imus was spearheading a fund raiseing effort for a hospital in Texas. I guess the current administration was too busy to help out.

This administration has taken things to a new low. I'm sure it will change with a new administration

Reply to
Roy

Exactly!

Reply to
Roy

Oh, yes. Uncle Bill was so much better for our military. We have a short memory, don't we? And I'm sure the next admin will make dramatic improvements in manpower, benifits, pay, and equipment. Especially if Aunt Hillary manages to get elected.

Reply to
.boB

Yes, and ask the vets who survived Mogadishu about Uncle Bill's decisions.

Reply to
bill allemann

I got hit in the head with an IUD once. Does that count?

beekeep

Reply to
beekeep

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