Editor Chronicles Efforts to Help Badly Wounded Troops

[babylonsister]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003608673

Editor Chronicles Efforts to Help Badly Wounded Troops

By Dennis Anderson

Published: July 08, 2007 8:30 PM ET

PALMDALE, CA. (Commentary) It's been said that there has been little sacrifice from the American public during the war that this nation is waging in Iraq and its almost forgotten and undernourished front, Afghanistan.

It's said that while the U.S. military went to war, America "went to the mall."

This week that "little engine that could," the Blue Star Mothers of America -- Chapter 14, Antelope Valley, California -- has been diligently raising funds in support of a couple of our hometown soldiers who were hideously wounded in this war. In one case, they did it at, yes, the mall.

In the one case, it's to help with a crucial morale issue for one soldier who lost both legs to an incredibly powerful explosive during the fighting in Baghdad. His name is Travis Strong.

Lose both legs, and you cannot take a walk on the beach with your bride. Not even on artificial legs. Like a lot of our military gear, the prosthetics don't do well in sand. If you need to get up in the night to go to the bathroom, well, that isn't easy, either.

These are costs of war borne by the very few who are doing the fighting.

more...