Tough Question - Stupid Answer

From the New England Journal of Medicine. Typical injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device explodes under a humvee.


Spc. Thomas Wilson: "Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles?" Shouts of approval and applause arose from the estimated 2,300 soldiers who had assembled to see Rumsfeld.

"You go to war with the Army you have," Rumsfeld replied, "not the Army you might want or wish to have."

It is obvious to me that Mr. Rumsfeld has never stood by and watched a human blown to bits. It is equally obvious that he has never cared for someone who has sustained a severe traumatic injury, nor has he stood by while the victim has worked to learn to live with the aftermath of the injuries sustained.

Due, in large part, to medical advances and rapid medical response teams, many more soldiers are surviving what would have been in prior wars, a fatal injury. It remains to be seen if we are doing these soldiers any favors.

Mr. Rumsfeld's response to this soldier's inquiry was ludicrious. Even if this war had been a "necessary" or "just" war, we have been engaged for some 20 months and US taxpayers have paid billions of dollars to finance it. I am sure most Americans had the expectation that our troops would have the best safety equipment available to do their jobs. We were told multiple times that that was the case by Mr. Rumsfeld and other members of the Administration.

Specialist Wilson's question is a valid one. It is one that should be asked by ALL Americans.

To read the full story link here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041208/ap_on_re_mi_ea/rumsfeld

To view the full slide show published in the New England Journal of Medicine, link here: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/351/24/2476

A Bit of Sanity...and Joy

Sanity --in canine form

There are always those days when the problems in the world can be almost overwhelming.

On those days, I take a walk with my hubby and "the boys". Well, if the truth is known, we walk and they run!

Their obvious joy in their world...and the game... are a reminder that there is beauty in the chaos of life. You just gotta go for it!

Support the Troops and Keep Our Promises

CITIZEN-TIMES.com

The way our country treats returning soldiers is a national shame

By SPECIAL TO CITIZEN-TIMES
Dec. 2, 2004
6:04 p.m.

Supporters of our invasion of Iraq cheerlead from their armchairs for the women and men of our military. Some folks send packages of goodies and letters to soldiers and sailors. Veterans for Peace stand on a street corner each week asking to bring our troops home. These are all examples of different ways we express our support for U.S. soldiers.

But what about support when they come back? While some historical references reflect an effort to support our soldiers upon their return from battle, our history of neglecting
soldiers also flourishes and seems to be getting worse.

For example, in 1693 Plymouth Colony offered support with an order that any disabled soldier injured while defending the colony would be maintained by the colony for life. And in 1780, the Continental Congress offered half pay for seven years to officers who served until the end of the war.

However, the Continental Congress also promised some soldiers land in exchange for their service. Looking at genealogy sites on the Internet, one can find desecendants of these soldiers still trying to collect on those unfulfilled promises.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.citizen-times.com/cache/article/print/71703.shtml

To Care For Him Who Shall Have Borne the Battle

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865

I read several local stories over the last few months about a young soldier from the area who was paralyzed in a tank accident in Iraq. His crewmates were killed and he sustained a neck fracture. In medical speak it is called a "hangman's fracture". The results are paralysis from the neck down. The condition, sadly, is permanent. He breathes using a ventilator. He is 23 years old.

He survived an injury that in earlier wars would have been fatal. He is now home with family and fighting yet another war - this time with the very government that sent him to Iraq in the first place. And sadly, he is joined in his fight with combat vets from other wars - with very poor results.

It seems that even as our President ordered young men and women into combat, he cut veterans benefits. The system, stressed from caring from vets of other generations, will be sorely tested as more vets with severe physical and psychological injuries return home.

This young man was awarded full disability pay from the VA. And where the sum awarded sounds adequate, it is less than the cost to care for him...according to the VA's own figures (and they are based on numbers last examined in 1998). So who cares for him to keep the costs down? His family, of course. President Lincoln, at least, seemed to realize that when our soldiers are tasked to fight in service to the country, our nation must take care of those who survive and for those who are left behind.

The full story can be found here: http://www.suntimes.com/special_sections/veterans/cst-nws-wvets03.html

For information on the cost of caring for a wounded soldier, according to the VA, click here: http://www.herc.research.med.va.gov/Slides/HERC_course_11-3-00.ppt