Friday, March 6, 2009

Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be TBI Casualties


A report out today from the Army Times (NOT a "librul" rag) that upwards of 100 THOUSAND Iraq and Afghanistan vets suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury (I did not know Glen Beck was a vet...oh, wait, he's not).

Via TruthOut, Kelly Kennedy, in the Army Times says:
"As Army officials announced the beginning of Brain Injury Awareness Month, they offered up a figure that makes it hard to believe anyone in the military could be unaware of the problem: Between 45,000 and 90,000 troops have been treated for traumatic brain injury symptoms ranging from headaches to vision problems to an inability to function beyond a coma state."
Jayzus FUCK! They gotta have a "TBI Month"? Sounds more like the whole fucking Army is reduced to slobbering and stumbling around (as if THAT were something new...) if, with in excess of 50 THOUSAND, and perhaps as many as 100 THOUSAND troops suffer with "traumatic brain injury symptoms ranging from headaches to vision problems to an inability to function beyond a coma state."
Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said between 10 percent and 20 percent of soldiers and Marines — about 180,000 people — have screened positive for TBI.

Yet military doctors still fight a culture in which some troops believe they can head right back into the fight after being exposed to a blast — even though high school football players know better than to play again for a few days — and commanders may decide to risk sending someone outside the wire after an injury because there aren’t enough people to make up a patrol team.

Experts at the U.S. Military Academy have said it’s important for someone who has suffered even mild TBI to avoid the risk of re-injuring the brain — especially the not-yet-fully-grown brain of someone younger than 24 — because a second injury can lead to permanent damage or even death.
But the culture of the Army makes complaining 'dishonorable,' no matter that 'doing your duty' could well scramble your brain irreversibly or kill you.

Take it from me: There is nothing like High Explosive detonating nearby to redefine irreversibly and forever you idea of a "sudden, loud noise."

Mommas, keep your babies out of the military 'service.' Just do it.

1 comment:

opit said...

There's what they know and what they can say.
http://creekside1.blogspot.com/2009/03/master-narrative-on-afghanistan.html
You didn't think it was sheer coincidence that officers feel the same way about politicians as troops do officers, did you ?