Amputee soldiers return to active duty

[mudesi]

Source: Seattle PI

SAN ANTONIO -- In the blur of smoke and blood after a bomb blew up under his Humvee in Iraq, Sgt. Tawan Williamson looked down at his shredded leg and knew it couldn't be saved. His military career, though, pulled through. Less than a year after the attack, Williamson is running again with a high-tech prosthetic leg and plans to take up a new assignment, probably by the fall, as an Army job counselor and affirmative action officer in Okinawa, Japan.

In an about-face by the Pentagon, the military is putting many more amputees back on active duty - even back into combat, in some cases.

Williamson, a 30-year-old Chicago native who is missing his left leg below the knee and three toes on the other foot, acknowledged that some will be skeptical of a maimed soldier back in uniform.


Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Amputee_Soldiers.html

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I am flabbergasted.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. My friend was sent back into combat on crutches

So this doesn't really surprise me.

[alfredo]

15. A friend who was in his late 50's,overweight, arthritic,

couldn't run, was transfered from artillery to infantry and activated. He had failed his physical, and was only kept on because he was valuable as a trainer. It took some political clout by high ranking officers to keep him out of combat.

[The Wielding Truth]

2. Are amputees being ordered back or is it voluntary?

[pitohui]

4. looks to be at their request or at least the soldier featured in the article requested it

But since the start of the Iraq war, the military has begun holding on to amputees, treating them in rehab programs like the one here at Fort Sam Houston and promising to help them return to active duty if that is what they want.

the article says the soldier must request it and must prove he can do the job

[Captain Hilts]

11. Those I've met at Bethesda Naval want to return to their units in whatever capacity they can.

The unit is everything. And it helps some cope with survivor's guilt.

[ohio2007]

3. The military planned to discharge him on disability, but he appealed, hoping to become a drill instr

No drill instructing for him but a clerk job pushing papers.He could have gotten out.
Guess life at a VA hospital would have been worse then pencil pushing from a mil spec desk.
Bottom line to this story is it's his choice. He's a brave sob.

[itsrobert]

5. The is the start of RoboTroops

Pretty soon, once maimed, troops will be forced to stay in and complete their enlistments. They will be rebuilt. Maybe like the bionic man or RoboCop. The future is a man blown to bits, rebuilt with nothing but his vital organs intact encased in a warfighters collection of engineered body parts.

[jollyreaper2112]

20. we can rebuild them. we have the technology

Get your asses back out there and protect uncle dick's oil.

(real cyborg, incidentally, thought-controlled arm: the technology is here)

[deadmessengers]

6. I have no problem with this

It appears to be his choice. And, advocates for the disabled have been saying for years that those with handicaps can do anything, right?

Here's the way I see it: If this guy wants to stay in and make the military his career, then why should having his leg blown off end his career when the military has hundreds of job specialties where being an amputee doesn't impact his ability to do his job? I say, good on him for wanting to stay in, and good on the military for letting him. :patriot:

[qdemn7]

7. Agreed...

This brings to mind of story of U.S Navy Master Diver Carl Brashear, who story was told in the film "Men of Honor".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Brashear

In January 1966, a hydrogen bomb was lost off the coast of Palomares, Spain after two U.S. Air Force planes collided during a refueling attempt. The Navy was called in to find and recover the bomb; and after 2-1/2 months of searching, the bomb was found. On March 23, 1966, during recovery operations, a line used for towing broke loose, causing a pipe to strike Brashear's left leg below the knee, nearly shearing it off. He was evacuated to Torrejon Air Base in Spain, then to Wiesbaden, Germany; and finally to the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. After persistent infections and necrosis, and facing years of recovery, Brashear convinced his doctors to amputate the lower portion of his leg.

Brashear remained at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth from May 1966 until March 1967 recovering and rehabilitating from the amputations. From March 1967 to March 1968, Senior Chief Brashear was assigned to the Harbor Clearance Unit Two, Diving School, preparing for return to full active duty and diving. In April 1968, after a long struggle, he became the first amputee to be certified as a diver. In 1970, he became the first African-American U.S. Navy Master Diver, and served 10 more years beyond that, eventually achieving the rank of Master Chief Boatswain's Mate in 1971.

[Miss Chybil]

8. If that's what he wants, good for him.

Remember the movie "Men of Honor."

[Posteritatis]

9. Any war amp who *voluntarily* goes back gets my respect

Particularly if they somehow wind up back in a combat position like some of these guys.

That would be what they, in the vernacular, call "hardcore." Gah.

[FloridaJudy]

10. Didn't a double-amputee just climb Everest?

If it's the soldier's own choice, I don't see why an amputee can't continue to serve. Not every military job requires strength and agility, so even those who are limited by their injuries could be useful as support staff.

Again, this has to be a choice, not a routine "patch 'em up and send 'em back to the front" policy.

[Posteritatis]

12. One soloed it w/o O2 or something a few years ago, if I recall! (nt)

[ohio2007]

13. Some of these guys are truely amazing

US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Angel Barcenas pulls a parachute as he runs on his artificial legs during a demonstration at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/pictures/WAS401.htm




Semper Fi

[aaronbees]

14. Amazing indeed

I have no problem with this and actually applaud it since it's voluntary. If not, it would be an entirely different story. It's interesting, though, that it's now the Army chooses to allow these brave soldiers to return to duty.

[ohio2007]

16. Just a choice made by the serviceman and the army

They call it disability. They could pilot UAV's for example or
the army could dump them in a skid row ally with a disability pension and a written letter of thanks but, in the long run, thats not in the best interest of the vet.

[slackmaster]

17. Sorry, my impulse control is weak this morning

[loyalsister]

18. I call bullshit

This happened during the Vietnam years. I heard that acute care was so great that they could remove some of the shrapnel from a person's jugular and send him back out.

When he was drunk I got another story. 9 months into his tour he laid there on the field and saw a fountain of blood shooting up. He said he felt happy because he thought he was going home. They sewed him up and sent him back out.
He has a PTSD, sleeps with a loaded gun next to his bed, and doesn't tell stories about Vietnam much.

Yes people with disabilities want to participate, but acquiring a disability requires some real rehab time.

Has anyone considered the possibility that they may be choosing a discharge with heroism attached over a legacy of standard or lackluster performance.

For some that may be exactly what they want. For others.....

[AnnieBW]

19. There are many desk jobs that an amputee could do

Intelligence, for one. Signals intelligence, not actively going out there and infiltrating stuff. Administrative stuff. Training. Etc. If the troops want to go back, more power to 'em. But if they're being forced to go back, that's not right.