health care for those who served

I've been watching a special news documentary on ABC "To Iraq and Back," about and by Bob Woodruff, the ABC News anchor who was severely injured in Iraq. Woodruff suffered major brain trauma after a roadside bomb hit the tank he was riding in, essentially exploding one side of his skull. The story was poignant, particularly in the depiction of the impact on his family and his recovery over the period of a year. One view of his caved in skull while learning to recognize objects again was shocking. Yet he is very lucky and knows it.

The rest of the hour documentary is spent visiting injured soldiers and marines with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the impacts not only on them but on their families. He does not sugar coat the problem. The VA and the military states that there have been about 23,000 non fatal battlefield casualties in Iraq. However the Veterans of America says over 205,000 soldiers have been treated at VA hospitals since the war began. In the main VA hospitals the medical care for the intense treatment and physical therapy required for these patients is among the best available in the world. Yet, once these service people are sent to VA hospitals close to home, the availability of such highly skilled treatment is not always available. The report ends with a discussion of closed brain injuries, the type of injury many soldiers may suffer because of the high blast pressure waves, even though they may not have any visible injuries. It is now thought that up to 10% of returning veterans of the war in Iraq may suffer closed brain injuries with varying impacts on cognitive thinking, moods, socialbility, and other quality of life issues.

When you think that over 1.5 million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that means that about 150,000 may suffer injuries like these. Yet they have come home to their own health care war here at home.

More needs to be done for these soldiers. There should be no question of getting the care they need, no matter what the cost, no matter what politics are. The administration needs to step up to the plate for these people. We all do.