May 28, 2006

Healing The Wounds Of War

New Population Of Wounded Veterans Emerges

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By Daniel Schorn

Play CBS Video Video The Wounds Of War
A new generation of veterans is emerging, many of whom suffered traumatic injuries on the battlefield. Mike Wallace talks to some of the resilient survivors.

Video Wallace's Reporter's Notebook
Mike Wallace talks about wounded soldiers who've come back from Iraq and the hardships they encounter as they rehabilitate their bodies and their lives. (Recorded in Feb. 2006.)

- Jessica Clements had been a model in Akron, Ohio, when she left high school to join the Army. (CBS)
- Melissa Stockwell is studying to be a prosthetist. (CBS)
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Interactive Iraq: 4 Years Later
The conflict wears on as the nation struggles to rebuild.
Interactive Battle For Iraq
The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
Interactive American Heroes
Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.

(CBS)
"That's a very long process," says Sarah. "I think that's one of the things about brain injuries that people don't realize is [that] it's not like being an amputee where it can take a few months, it can take a year to get out and get working again. But a brain injury … I don't think people can fathom how long and what it takes to get back out there."

Out in public, people can be cruel. They get impatient when Edward is moving too slowly for them. Once when Edward was having trouble getting through a subway turnstile, he drew harsh words from a transit officer.

"And I kind of blew my cork that day, and apologized to the metro policeman that was getting impatient. Apologized that my husband, being blown up in Iraq, had to inconvenience him for 30 seconds, but that's just how it was," Sarah recalls.

And as Wade continues to improve he hopes that, he can also help other wounded vets.

"No one expects anyone to come back from the accident that I had," he says.

Sarah Wade recalls her husband's father asking a neurosurgeon, "So what you’re saying is, he’s a vegetable? And the man nodded yes."

"And that 'vegetable' was skiing in Colorado recently," she says.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe, 'Hey, I don't wanna spend the rest of my life with him?'" Wallace asks.

"No, I was too scared that I wasn't gonna get that option," she replies with a laugh.

Despite the price they’ve paid, none of these vets question President Bush’s decision to send U.S. soldiers into Iraq.

Asked if the United States should be in Iraq, Edward Wade says, "Honestly, we should be there because the president has made that decision."

"I firmly believe that we are doing a very good thing to help the Iraqi people," says Brian Neuman.

"We need to finish our job. And to continue help stabilize the country," says Jessica Clements.

Melissa Stockwell says, "Time is gonna tell if the war is right or wrong. But I, for me, I think it was."

Continued