Army deployed seriously injured troops

[kskiska]

Soldiers on crutches and canes were sent to a main desert camp used for Iraq training. Military experts say the Army was pumping up manpower statistics to show a brigade was battle ready.

By Mark Benjamin

Mar. 26, 2007 | Last November, Army Spc. Edgar Hernandez, a communications specialist with a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, had surgery on an ankle he had injured during physical training. After the surgery, doctors put his leg in a cast, and he was supposed to start physical therapy when that cast came off six weeks later.

But two days after his cast was removed, Army commanders decided it was more important to send him to a training site in a remote desert rather than let him stay at Fort Benning, Ga., to rehabilitate. In January, Hernandez was shipped to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., where his unit, the 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, was conducting a month of training in anticipation of leaving for Iraq in March.

Hernandez says he was in no shape to train for war so soon after his injury. "I could not walk," he told Salon in an interview. He said he was amazed when he learned he was being sent to California. "Did they not realize that I'm hurt and I needed this physical therapy?" he remembered thinking. "I was told by my doctor and my physical therapist that this was crazy."

Hernandez had served two tours in Iraq, where he helped maintain communications gear in the unit's armored Bradley Fighting Vehicles. But he could not participate in war maneuvers conducted on a 1,000-square-mile mock battlefield located in the harsh Mojave Desert. Instead, when he got to California, he was led to a large tent where he would be housed. He was shocked by what he saw inside: There were dozens of other hurt soldiers. Some were on crutches, and others had arms in slings. Some had debilitating back injuries. And nearby was another tent, housing female soldiers with health issues ranging from injuries to pregnancy.

more…
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/26/fort_irwin/

[Monkeyman]

1. K&R KEEP KICKING NEEDS TO GO GREATEST PAGE

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd. Disgusting. nt

[Benhurst]

3. Recommended #4 Support our troops. Yeah. Sure. Bushstyle.

[Monkeyman]

4. How many have they done this to

I sent it to Larry Scott and Tom in Nancy office. I am now sending to KO

[Monkeyman]

5. K&R This one for the wounded

[ninkasi]

6. I am kicking and recommending

but with tears in my eyes for the brave men and women this administration is abusing. I NEVER want to hear from a conservative that we don't support the troops. What a tragedy, and how shameful it is that patriotic men and women are being betrayed by the country they swore to defend.

[Monkeyman]

7. Replugs will say nothing But we can

[ninkasi]

8. And thanks to the tireless efforts of you,

and others like you, we will keep on speaking out. I truly appreciate, as a citizen, all you do to help those who have sacrificed so much. We need many, many more like you.

[ninkasi]

9. I've just got to give this another kick

:kick: These men and women deserve the best medical care this country can offer. They should not be pushed aside like so many discarded toys, or punished because they had the nerve to get too injured to fight any longer. This scandal should cause every American with a drop of love of country in their veins to stand up, and demand that our fighting forces be well equipped, not sent into wars of choice, and be properly cared for after they serve.

My own feeling is that we all agree that a citizen can betray his country, but in addition, a country can betray it's citizens. I do not want to live in a country which is capable of betraying the very people who keep us free. They deserve much, much more.

[Monkeyman]

11. You are very Right

[Judi Lynn]

10. Can you remember a time in your life when you would never have believed

ANY President of the U.S. would stoop this low?

Our past seems like a dream now, doesn't it?

This is hellish. I surely hope this news will travel fast.

[Greyskye]

12. absolutely disgusting

:kick: & R for the troops. :(

[lonestarnot]

13. So does anyone know what he did in CA?

K & R