Amputations up in Afghanistan...

[Bigmack]

Shit! Just SHIT! All this suffering .... for what?
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Amputations increase with surge in Afghanistan

Marine Cpl. Tyler Southern celebrates Aug. 20 after his arrival at his Jacksonville home. Southern was awarded a Purple Heart after he lost both legs and an arm to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

The number of U.S. soldiers who have suffered amputations in Afghanistan has increased sharply over last year as more troops move into Taliban territory, according to Army data.
Amputations rose from 47 in 2009 to 77 through Sept. 23 of this year, or an increase of more than 60%, the Army reports.

The chief cause of the injuries are improvised explosive devices — or IEDs — that are planted in the ground or along roads, according to the International Security Assistance Force, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan.

Coalition forces have been hit by more IEDs in recent weeks as the surge in U.S. troops allows for expanded operations into traditional Taliban strongholds in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in southern Afghanistan.

"The patients survive only because (of) the wearing of body armor," along with the use of tourniquets in the field and rapid evacuation to a hospital by helicopter, said Navy Cmdr. Eric Elster, lead surgeon at a NATO hospital outside Kandahar City.

The vast majority of amputations involve the loss of either an arm or leg, but a dozen soldiers this year have had multiple amputations, twice the number of such cases in 2009.

Edit to add link... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-10-05-afghanistan-amputations_N.htm

[backscatter712]

1. I've seen more amputees at my university.

I'm going back for my second degree, and yes, I see more people with artificial legs, or missing hands than I did when I went to college the first time.

It's not surprising. When troops come back to the U.S. and get a medical discharge after losing limbs in Iraq or Afghanistan, some of them are going to take advantage of their GI Bill benefits and go to college.

I'm taking classes with some of them.