There Are Lots Of Blind Soldiers Coming Home From Iraq....

[leftchick]

http://pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1104680640216750.xml&storylist=penn

~snip~

"Troops have traditionally not wanted to wear eye protection because all of it might in some way limit their vision," said Col. Thomas Ward, consultant to the U.S. surgeon general in ophthalmology. "Early on, I don't think people really appreciated how vulnerable the eye was."

Nine percent of the soldiers wounded in Vietnam had eye injuries. That number rose to 13 percent in the Persian Gulf War, and anecdotally appears to have risen in Iraq, Ward said.

At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where about 90 percent of the Army's wounded are treated at some point, 215 eye injuries have been recorded since the start of the Iraq war, Ward said. The figure includes 34 totally blinded in one eye, and four soldiers totally blinded in both eyes.

The lucky ones have had pieces of metal or glass removed from their eyes. Others, suffering direct blasts to the face, had eyes blown out.

[leftchick]

1. And... The US Army doesn't want to pay the bills...

~snip~
Battles of a different kind face him now.

He's been dogged by creditors seeking about $9,800 from a medical procedure he underwent on his eyes after returning home. The Army was supposed to pay the bill, but officials told Ross it wasn't paid because of a clerical error. While the Army sorted it out, the hospital turned the issue over to a collection agency.

"It's all paperwork, thousands of dollars hanging out there," said Ross, adding that he's confident it will get worked out sooner or later.

Ross would also like to shed some of the weight he's put on from being so inactive. He was a muscular 135 pounds before the war but now weighs about 170.

The town threw him and other soldiers a parade in August 2003. Now he's trying to see if businesses will donate money to help him achieve his goal of buying a house adapted for the handicapped.

[Disturbed]

2. It is so sickening how...

this Govt. casts aside people that sacrifice for the country. It is also real sad.

[tsuki]

3. This is something that I have wanted to research, but haven't

gotten around to.

http://www.homesforourtroops.org/

Anyone know anything about it? Sounds worthy.