Iraq war's signature wound: Brain injury

[deadparrot]

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Lance Cpl. Sam Reyes bears scars from three horrific attacks in Iraq, but his most debilitating wound cannot be seen.

He recovered from the chest wound delivered by a machine gun-toting insurgent and the bullet wound to his back that came during an ambush. He survived the severe burns and broken ribs inflicted by a suicide bomber who struck a lightly armored 18-wheeler and killed 12 of Reyes' fellow Marines.

But a traumatic brain injury from that truck explosion initially went undetected, and it continues to cripple him long after Reyes returned home with a clean bill of health.

The blast sent a powerful shock wave through his brain tissue, bursting blood vessels and smacking his brain against the inside of his skull.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060915/ap_on_he_me/iraq_war_brain_injuries

[Captain Hilts]

1. I've volunteered at Bethesda Naval. This is true. nt

[Wilber_Stool]

2. I don't remember hearing about this.

"struck a lightly armored 18-wheeler and killed 12 of Reyes' fellow Marines."
I'm sure I would remember a death toll like that. Anybody else remember this event?

Just googled "12 dead". Looked six pages in. Nothing.

[madrchsod]

4. try this

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Iraq Coalition Casualties.....may be in archives

[Wilber_Stool]

5. No help.

Just individual deaths. Nothing listed by incident.

[madrchsod]

3. last year the us government

would not grant travel to cuba so doctors in the united states to attended a world conference on severe brain trauma problems. another shining example of supporting our troops

[OneBlueSky]

6. and BushCo responds . . . "Brain injury budget faces cut" . . .

Brain injury budget faces cut

http://www.newsobserver.com/110/story/480210.html

Brain injuries are so common among U.S. troops that they're called the signature injury of the Iraq war, but Congress is poised to cut military spending on researching and treating them.
House and Senate versions of the defense appropriation bill would chop funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center from $14 million to $7 million. The center runs 10 facilities across the country, including one at Fort Bragg that has performed research and treated soldiers' injuries since 1998.

"It's just ridiculous," said Sgt. Maj. Colin Rich, a Fort Bragg soldier who has been legally blind since he was shot in the head while serving in Afghanistan in 2002. "Whoever is cutting the budget must have a head injury themselves."

"With the bombs, the gunshot wounds and everything else, their plate is full," he said. "They need that money."

- more . . .

http://www.newsobserver.com/110/story/480210.html