Reply #4: Landstuhl has received over 8,000 sick and injured; suicides too [View All]

[Hekate]

It took me a couple of months to track down a rumor from a vet friend of mine, but finally another vet sent me the article below. Those who die from "non-combat related" injuries may be suicides rather than Humvee rollovers.

There is still a two-tier medical treatment and rehab system in the US for Regular Army vs. National Guards and Reserves -- survivors are often severely maimed (the wonders of medical science can save many who would have died of their injuries in WW I and WW II) but non-Reg Army are warehoused at places like Ft. Stewart, GA. Good luck trying to get in for a visit.( http://www.upi.com/index.cfmhttp://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031017-024617-1418r "Sick, wounded U.S. troops held in squalor") The Chickenhawk in Chief has yet to attend a funeral, even at Arlington Cemetary, and photographs of the bodies returning to the US in their "transfer tubes" are strictly verboten.

I hate these unspeakable SOBs. They treat our young like so many GI Joe action figures -- play with 'em until they're broken, then toss 'em in the discard pile. The Chimp in Charge even has his own flight suit to play in.

Write your friends, your newspapers, and your congressman and senators. Just keep it out there, and vote Bush the hell out of the White House.

Hekate

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/suic-d05_prn.shtml

Alarming rise in suicides among US troops in Iraq
By Jeff Riley
5 December 2003



The deaths of at least 17 US troops in Iraq—15 Army personnel and two Marines—have been confirmed as suicides over the past seven months, according to a recent Associated Press review of Army casualty reports. Nearly all of the suicides have occurred since May 1, when the Bush administration declared an end to major combat operations.

This number represents more than 10 percent of non-combat deaths there. According to one estimate, US troops in Iraq are committing suicide at three times the usual rate. Dozens of other deaths are currently under investigation, and the real number of suicides could be significantly higher. Over 500 soldiers have recently been evacuated from Iraq for mental health reasons. The Army has sent a team of mental health specialists to Iraq to assess what is perceived as a growing problem of both depression and suicide.

As of December 3, there have been 441 soldiers killed... Of these deaths, 154 are being categorized as "non-hostile." The Pentagon has released the figure of just over 2,145 wounded, 351 of them in "non-hostile" incidents. Out of these injuries, 20 percent have suffered severe brain injuries, and many are left with disabling and disfiguring wounds, including amputations.

It is also widely acknowledged that this is a small portion of the troops suffering serious medical problems in Iraq. As of November 20, the Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany had received 8,093 injured or sick troops for treatment, many for mental health problems.


~~~The US flag is not a corporate logo for Bush-Cheney, Inc.~Hekate~~~