Outstanding Story on Traumatic Brain Injuries of U.S. Soldiers in Iraq

[NJCher]

The San Jose Mercury News has a front-page story (for a look at the front page, see this link, click San Jose Mercury on the left: http://www.newsdesigner.com/blog/) about head injuries suffered by the soldiers in Iraq. It is heart-wrenching, but is an important issue to understand in this disaster that bush has wrought.

The article cites figures that tell how many who would not have ordinarily survived now do so--but the price is high: TBI, traumatic brain injury.

The story includes extensive pictures and videos that tell about one soldier's recovery. I watched the videos and was astonished at what an IED did to this one soldier, Frank Sandoval. This story tells of the lives that bush has shattered over his war for oil and because he is a bully with an oversized ego.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/frank_sandoval/

snip
As of Oct. 31, 1,652 American soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan had been treated for brain trauma, ranging from mild to severe, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. Of those, it's estimated at least 250 are in assisted-living facilities, unable to care for themselves.
snip

snip
A photo on the wall, taken in Iraq, showed the brawny, intense-looking soldier he had been two months earlier. The man crying in the wheelchair had now lost more than 40 pounds and shared only a passing resemblance to the one in the picture.

His left arm and hand hung limp in his lap. He could move his left leg and foot only fractions of an inch.

He understood what was being said to him, but Frank's short-term memory lapses meant VA staff members had to repeat things like their names and the day of the week to him, over and over.

A weakened tongue and muscles of the mouth made swallowing difficult, so he tended to drool. His diet was limited to pureed food and thickened liquids. Because he ate so little, Frank had a feeding tube for nutritional supplements and 12 vitamins and medications -- everything from an anti-seizure drug to Ritalin, which kept him calm.
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Cher

[Dammit Ann]

1. wow.

i just watched it, long, but well worth the time invested and profoundly sad. i put it up on my blog.
again, wow, thanks for finding it.



THE DAMMIT CHRONICLES

[Why Syzygy]

2. I just thought bush was a thug

You gave him a higher rank ... I'm not watching that. I LIVED viet nam.
This is what horrified me from the beginning. Handicapped men and families . for ever after.

It's too late now. Screwed by Bush.

[Rageneau]

3. Bush passed "thug" 20 years ago.

[Why Syzygy]

7. so who made him

thug central. That isn't a question.

On the brighter side .. some find love and cheer and a reason to exist . outside the matrix.

[NJCher]

4. kick

for the morning crowd

Cher

[Why Syzygy]

5. another kick

let someone! bring them home and stop the Holocaust.

Give Peace a Chance.

and what no one wants to talk about DU poison.
War is not healthy for man or beast. So who is doing it and why?

[nam78_two]

6. K&R.nt

[Why Syzygy]

8. ty

some of us have children. Does that matter? What of the parents who have to live with the maiming or killing of their/our CHILDREN?

[I Have A Dream]

9. Thank you for posting this, Cher. Recommended.

It's sad that so many will have the rest of their lives impacted by this debacle. :(

[Digit]

10. K&R

Thanks for posting.

[LaurenG]

11. Thank you NJCher

Information is a good thing.