More U.S. Troops Coming Home Wounded

Afghanistan IEDs Largely Behind Increase; Veterans Day Sees Older Soldiers Consider Toll of "Hidden Wounds"

(AP)  Far from winding down, the numbers of wounded U.S. soldiers coming home have continued to swell. The problem is especially acute among those who fought in Afghanistan, where nearly four times as many troops were injured in October as a year ago.

Amputations, burns, brain injuries and shrapnel wounds proliferate in Afghanistan, due mostly to crude, increasingly potent improvised bombs targeting U.S. forces. Others are hit by snipers' bullets or mortar rounds.

With the U.S. Veterans Day holiday on Wednesday, wounded veterans from the recent conflicts consider the toll of these injuries, and the rough road ahead for the injured. Of particular concern are the so-called hidden wounds, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder that can have side effects such as irritability and depression.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan

Since 2007, more than 70,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury - more than 20,000 of them this year, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. Most of the injuries are mild but leave symptoms such as headaches and difficulty concentrating.

Vince Short, 42, a former Army specialist who suffered brain injuries in a 2003 roadside bomb attack in Iraq, said he can't help but feel for the soldiers coming home from Afghanistan with similar wounds.

"I cry out for them. It's tough. It's hard to put it in words," Short, who served with the District of Columbia Army National Guard, said in an interview at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, where he receives weekly physical and mental therapy.

Thanks to the therapy, he said, he's in a good place. But in the early years of his recovery, he said, he found it difficult to return to work, and his marriage fell apart. Short said he was confident and motivated before he was injured. Now, he has memory problems and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"At that point, there was still a lot of panicking going on inside of me because it's like, 'What's going to happen to me?"' said Short. "I used to have a career. I used to have a good solid marriage. I was doing really good, and now look at me."

In Afghanistan, spinal injuries have increased significantly, due mostly to the powerful explosives used in the improvised bombs that rattle U.S. troops inside heavily armored vehicles. For those injured by these bombs, recovery can mean a year or more at a military medical hospital like Walter Reed Army Medical Center, followed by months, years or even a lifetime of therapy and coping with disability.

At least 1,800 troops were wounded in Afghanistan in the first 10 months of this year, about 40 percent of all the wounded U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Nearly 1,000 of those injuries occurred in the last three months.

In Iraq, more than 600 troops have been wounded so far this year.

By far, improvised explosive devices are the biggest killer of U.S. troops in both countries.

In Afghanistan in the last four months, the volume of explosives used to make IEDs, as well as the number of IEDs, have increased, Col. Wayne Shanks, chief of public affairs for the International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan, said in an e-mail.

Spinal injuries account for one in six of the wounds treated in the Afghanistan battle theater, Shanks said. Of those injuries, about 15 percent involved motor or sensory changes such as a broken back or spinal cord injury, Shanks said.

He said the military has a "concerted counter-IED" effort and is working with the local population to encourage their help.

Garry J. Augustine, deputy national service director of Disabled American Veterans, said improved protective gear and advancements in battlefield medicine have helped - but they also have resulted in higher survival rates for those with extreme wounds that often proved fatal in previous wars.

"Getting over the initial injury is one thing, but going about dealing with your life, the rest of your life, with these injuries is quite another," Augustine said.

Sgt. Dirk Bryant, 28, a member of the Illinois Army National Guard, credits those advancements for his survival. He was on patrol near Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Jan. 30 when a bullet cut into his hip and left a softball-sized wound. The experience left him emotional and, at times, depressed as he wondered if he'd be able to walk again.

Through rehab and determination, he said, he has made a near-full recovery. He's currently a student at Northern Illinois University, aspiring to become a museum curator or historian, and could very well go back to Afghanistan to fight.

"I just feel very fortunate," Bryant said. "There's a lot of people that weren't as lucky as I was."

Dr. Joel Scholten, associate chief of staff of rehab services at the VA Medical Center in Washington, said experts are keeping an eye on injury patterns in the war zones so medical treatments can be adjusted as necessary.

"When the war's over, the veterans will still have issues related to service that we'll need to be here for them," Scholten said.

Even when injuries don't involve combat, the recovery process can be a time of reflection and bonding with others in the hospital wards, said retired Lt. Col. Kurt Kosmatka, 50, who came down with a disease while in Iraq in 2007 that's weakened his immune system and left him with respiratory problems. He spent more than a year at Walter Reed and has been at the VA hospital in Washington since January.

He said he feels for those who are getting wounded who don't have strong family connections to help them through the process.

"It was pretty tough on some guys and girls," Kosmatka said.

[YourVeryWrong]

Smug half-wits at home: that's another enemy the soldier must face.

[Ms_enza]

Coming home with a wound is just one of the possible outcomes of entering a war zone with an intent to play shoot-em-up...

[sean66x]

OPEC demands American blood and money for their oil. Afghanistan is merely the killing field. Obama serves as the willing stooge who sacrifices Americans. During the revolutionary war, this country opposed a cartel managed by Lord Cornwalis. Obama's betrayal will fail. He lacks the heart, mind, and soul of an American.

[Ms_enza]

Damn Kenyans... just ain't got that warin' bone.

[finkfurst]

...... and how much less is America doing for the innocent Afghans maimed by its actions there? Why do Americans NEVER even think about anyone except Americans?

[melpol1]

Any soldier that picks up a Heroin addiction in Afghanistan should be considered disabled and discharged under honorable conditions. Upon release most vets will continue their habit, many get arrested and are imprisoned. It would be best if their Heroin habit was supported by a V.A. hospital. There they would be given the drug to take home and inject. This humane program would help keep our drug addicted vets out of prison. Those that want to kick the habit will have the opportunity. A 24/7 drug counselor should be made available.

[Ms_enza]

A little Thai stick, Mel?

[wyodutch]

Come on folks... most of these PTSD claims are a scam to get on Uncle Sugar's payroll for life.
.
With the new policies regarding Veterans disability payments fo PTSD.. it's very easy for a veteran to gain entitlement to a monthly disability check. That's why you're seeing so many of these bogus claims.
.
In the VA's own words... "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its adjudication regulations regarding service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The amendment will eliminate the requirement of evidence that corroborates the occurrence of in-service stressor in which PTSD is diagnosed in the service. This is necessary to facilitate the proof of service connection in such claims. By this amendment, the VA intends to reduce claim-processing time for such claims. Going forward - in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and provided that the claimed stressor is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of the veteran's service - the veteran's lay testimony alone may establish the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor. The VA believes that this change will contribute to faster processing of PTSD claims by eliminating the need for VA to develop evidence of occurrence of the in-service stressor in claims in which the veteran's PTSD was diagnosed during service.

[gramto8]

by wyodutch November 11, 2009 7:02 AM EST
Come on folks... most of these PTSD claims are a scam to get on Uncle Sugar's payroll for life.
.
With the new policies regarding Veterans disability payments fo PTSD.. it's very easy for a veteran to gain entitlement to a monthly disability check. That's why you're seeing so many of these bogus claims.
________________________________________________

Do you have any idea how many YEARS these guys and girls were having to fight the system to get ANY help before? Some were DYING before they received the first bit of assistance from the country they gave their health to protect. And you are such a b--ch that you would rather they keep dying than to get anything that YOU consider unearned. Well, here's hoping that you go through some intense trauma and then cannot get any help afterward.

[I_am_me1953]

RE: by wyodutch November 11, 2009 7:02 AM EST


Come on folks... most of these PTSD claims are a scam to get on Uncle Sugar's payroll for life.
.
With the new policies regarding Veterans disability payments fo PTSD.. it's very easy for a veteran to gain entitlement to a monthly disability check. That's why you're seeing so many of these bogus claims."

________________________

Thats all fine and dandy when said. What do we do to seperate the bogus from the real?

Which ones will turn out to be trained wacko killers?

Wanna house a few of these folks in your home and put them up living next door to you Uncle Sugar?