Silent casualties

[khaosworks]

Counting The Real Cost of War By Mr. Terence Chua, Who Skipped His Math Exam In 12th Grade

The unseen cost of the war in Iraq
US Politics
Published: 10-Feb-2004
By: Jonathan Miller

The true extent of US casualties in Iraq are still unknown. This has fuelled suspicion that the administration may be hiding the true human cost of the war and its aftermath. Channel Four News has been allowed a rare opportunity to meet some of America's wounded soldiers.

In a dark corner of Andrews Air Force base on the outskirts of Washington DC, America's war-wounded come home.

The human cost of humbling tyrants.

No ceremony, no big welcome.

More than 11,000 medical evacuees have come through Andrews in the past nine months, the Air Force says.

Most, we suspect, from Iraq. But that's 8,000 more than the Pentagon says have been wounded there.

Most of those wounded in action come through the vast Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington.

The American public is, for the most part, unaware that the true casualty count of the war in Iraq may actually be higher than official figures suggest.

...

Another patient, Staff Sergeant Roy Mitchell, lost his leg in Afghanistan three months ago:

"The ones that are covered are the KIAs. The “Killed in Action”. I'm not taking anything away from those soldiers. They deserve that coverage. But there is also us. To say we're forgotten, that would be going just a little bit too far to say we're forgotten but I'd say we are the missed soldiers of the army."

Says Sgt Craft, "A lot of people are getting hit. What they are showing are the deaths. They are not showing this here. They have a death toll but they're not showing the number of people being hit and being amputated because of their injuries.

Channel 4 News: "And in you're opinion, the number of wounded in action, the number wounded generally, is quite high?"

"Yes."

You know, war sucks. We know that. In war, people get killed. We know that, too. But many people who want to go to war never quite understand the human cost of it, and the human cost goes far beyond those killed, or even wounded. There are the psychological costs on the veterans, there are the emotional costs on their families, there's the long-term cost to the economy.

Obviously, the Pentagon doesn't want to draw attention to the casualties in Iraq, for morale purposes. But people need to know the cost of war because then can they only realize that war is a thing to be avoided. War is regrettable. It is sometimes necessary. But it is never a thing to be desired, or enshrined. And it does those who are wounded or maimed in our name a great disservice, a great injustice. These people and their families deserve so much better.

I didn't believe in the war. I marched against it. But never against the men and women who did their duty. Tell us who they are.

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I wonder if...

I wonder how I could find out if we could do a letter drive to Walter Reed Medical Center, if the soldiers would get them.

A.
sighing

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Contact the American Red Cross (1-877-272-7337) or http://www.wramc.amedd.army.mil/wramc/redcross there at Walter Reed and explain that you'd like to send letters to wounded soldiers there. They'll help you with the process. While you're at it, you might ask how to get similar letters to the Marines recuperating down the road at Bethesda Naval Medical Center.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

And, well, thank you. :) *blush* *smile*

[wcg.livejournal.com]

And hey, have I mentioned that you're a genuinely decent person lately?

[opadit.livejournal.com]

lunaville.org tracks wounded statistics as reported by the U.S. government. Other than the news reports, lunaville lists numbers but no details of injuries and incidents.