Friday, October 03, 2003
Here's another spooky tale from the news:
Think for a minute what that means -- what that really means. In the 5 months since "major combat has ended" almost 1100 G.I.s a month are wounded bad enough to be airlifted out of Iraq to Germany. They say only "10 to 12 per cent of whom are classified as 'battle injuries.'" Does it really matter to poor Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine (SSAM) that they were wounded by a collapsing building or traffic accident instead of being blown up or shot? They're in Iraq fighting a war -- any injury is combat related. If they weren't in combat, they wouldn't be in Iraq. I think this is one method the government is using to keep from spending more on medical care for vets. If your wound isn't directly combat related, you are a lower priority in the system.
I don't understand - it's a war. Do the powers to be really think that you have to be shot to be "honored" with a battle decoration? That sucks. The same thing happened to Korean vets who were wounded in their war - er, police action. The Veterans of foreign Wars (VFW) wouldn't even let them join when the returned to the states after spending a year or so freezing and steaming in the bleak mountains of Korea.
I guess being an ex-GI has something to do with. I have to admit that my 22 years in the USAF were spent in pretty benign places. Places like Cape Romanzof, AK; Saudi Arabia; Thule, Greenland; Shemya, AK; Osan, ROK; as well as places like Colorado Springs, CO; Dover, DE; Biloxi, MS; and Rimini, IT to name just a few. It was just the luck of the draw. I enlisted right about the time Vietnam was winding down, and retired a little after Desert Storm/Southern Watch. I was there if I was needed though. And to think of the poor folks, gals and guys, roasting in the sand pit of Iraq, getting shot at, blown up, run over, poisoned, and diseased and not being considered combat casualties just really pisses me off.
Think about this. If we're losing 3-6 folks a week, that's 200 a year killed and 12,000 a year wounded bad enough to evacuate. That's about the entire population of Traverse City, Michigan. That sucks just doesn't begin to express my feelings.
2fers: http://www.cem.va.gov/ and http://www.vaiw.org/vet/index.php
General [Lt.-Gen. Ricardo Sanchez]:
3-6 GIs Die Each Week in Iraq
Soldiers whose wounds are not severe are treated in field hospitals in Iraq. Those with more serious wounds are sent to the American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, after their conditions are stabilized. Some of the most seriously wounded are being sent to the United States. The military would not give a breakdown.
Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre has been getting an average of 40 to 44 patients a day from Iraq, about 10 to 12 per cent of whom are classified as "battle injuries," said spokeswoman Marie Shaw.
Since the start of the conflict, the hospital has seen 6,684 patients, with 5,377 coming after May 1, Shaw said. "What we don't see a lot of, though we see some, is gunshot wounds," Shaw said. "We see a lot of shrapnel wounds, some amputations, some burns, mostly from individual explosive devices."
CBC News
Think for a minute what that means -- what that really means. In the 5 months since "major combat has ended" almost 1100 G.I.s a month are wounded bad enough to be airlifted out of Iraq to Germany. They say only "10 to 12 per cent of whom are classified as 'battle injuries.'" Does it really matter to poor Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine (SSAM) that they were wounded by a collapsing building or traffic accident instead of being blown up or shot? They're in Iraq fighting a war -- any injury is combat related. If they weren't in combat, they wouldn't be in Iraq. I think this is one method the government is using to keep from spending more on medical care for vets. If your wound isn't directly combat related, you are a lower priority in the system.
I don't understand - it's a war. Do the powers to be really think that you have to be shot to be "honored" with a battle decoration? That sucks. The same thing happened to Korean vets who were wounded in their war - er, police action. The Veterans of foreign Wars (VFW) wouldn't even let them join when the returned to the states after spending a year or so freezing and steaming in the bleak mountains of Korea.
I guess being an ex-GI has something to do with. I have to admit that my 22 years in the USAF were spent in pretty benign places. Places like Cape Romanzof, AK; Saudi Arabia; Thule, Greenland; Shemya, AK; Osan, ROK; as well as places like Colorado Springs, CO; Dover, DE; Biloxi, MS; and Rimini, IT to name just a few. It was just the luck of the draw. I enlisted right about the time Vietnam was winding down, and retired a little after Desert Storm/Southern Watch. I was there if I was needed though. And to think of the poor folks, gals and guys, roasting in the sand pit of Iraq, getting shot at, blown up, run over, poisoned, and diseased and not being considered combat casualties just really pisses me off.
Think about this. If we're losing 3-6 folks a week, that's 200 a year killed and 12,000 a year wounded bad enough to evacuate. That's about the entire population of Traverse City, Michigan. That sucks just doesn't begin to express my feelings.
2fers: http://www.cem.va.gov/ and http://www.vaiw.org/vet/index.php
