War of Amputees

I'm staying at a Homewood Suites in CT this week and flipping the channels quickly away from Scooby Doo 2, I found a documentary on wounded veterans returning from Iraq speaking about their Alive Day and how they have coped with their injuries since returning. James Gandolfini was interviewing each of the soldiers on HBO on a program called "Alive Day Memories." Several of the soldiers interviewed have lost arms and legs, another was blinded. Their futures have all been changed. It was mortifying to watch as one Lieutenant who had lost her arm and shoulder, was silent as she pondered what it would be like not to able to hold her baby in her arms as a mother should, and held back the tears as they welled in her eyes. Several moment passed before she suddenly composed herself before Gandolfini and continued the interview in front of the camera. No one should have to be that tough.

The toughness these wounded veterans display is beyond most people. Here they are missing arms in legs and yet they still keep a positive outlook. A female soldier from South Carolina who joined the Army to escape a future with two choices: to get married or to get out, said she never allows people around her to cry about her injury. "I will do that on my own time." Another soldier who lost an arm, and both legs (former boxer and gymnast) said that if he had all four amputated it would not be worth living, said that one arm allowed him the independence to take care of himself. Headwounds are the worst. With two headwounds, a soldier was left half incapacitated and left to the care of his mother for the rest of his life. When the blinded soldier struggling to place his false eye into his empty socket took the screen, I could not take it any longer.

This war has the most amputees since the Civil War and the mental devastation has been understated. The result will be inevitable; PTSD, homeless, and vets uncared for, the cost that survivors pay for after all wars. In five years, we forget their sacrifices, take away benefits and coverage and in doing so, remove their dignity. The elevated number of suicides by returning veterans is only the beginning. It's one thing to "Support the Troops" tooting horns and waving flags; it's another thing to support the troops in a meaningful way.