SL Trib: Troops wounded in action not listed among casualties

[stickdog]

I think this is a very important article most of us missed last Sunday.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08172003/utah/84646.asp

Troops wounded in action not listed among casualties

By Dawn House
The Salt Lake Tribune

Fox Company Marines planned to fly Jesus Vidana from his home in Los Angeles to Utah to participate in the South Salt Lake parade and a picnic on July 4. Delta Air Lines donated a ticket and Smith's provided the food. Vidana, 25, received a head wound in Baghdad. He was one of 17 Marines in Fox Company awarded a Purple Heart for wounds and injuries received in combat. Cpl. Vidana, 25, survived and has undergone three operations and months of rehabilitation to learn all over again how to feed himself, talk and walk. A fourth surgery is scheduled to remove more shrapnel from his brain.

They are called WIAs for wounded in action, but their numbers are not listed under casualty postings from the U.S. Central Command or the Pentagon. Reporters must specifically ask for those tallies. So far, 1,007 U.S. military personnel have been wounded since March 19 when U.S. troops crossed the border into Iraq, said Lt. Ryan Fitzgerald from Central Command. That number compares with 467 "nonmortal wounds" in the 1991 Gulf War, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. "I know of no other war in which WIAs have not been listed among the casualties," said Robert Voyles, director of the Fort Douglas Museum. "I have no idea why this conflict would be any different."

Fitzgerald said WIA numbers are not publicized because the military has no way of determining the severity of the wounds. "Someone could get a couple of stitches for a cut and return to duty that same afternoon," he said. "That's why we give these numbers on a response basis to reporters. This is to help the media. Otherwise, we would have to refer them to each of the four services for the determination."

Utah National Guard historian Richard Roberts, a retired colonel, said he fears that the number of WIAs isn't posted because of political efforts to downplay consequences of the war. "There's always more wounded than those who are killed," he said. "The number of battle deaths is tragic, but it's only a part of what's happening in a war."

[papau]

1. Finally - now for National Print to see the human interest, then Broadcast

About time these poor kids got noticed.