The Emperor has no uniform...
Suzanne Goldberg, Guardian: The Guardian has uncovered more than a dozen instances in which ill or injured soldiers were sent to war by a US military whose resources have been stretched near to breaking point by the simultaneous fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In
its investigation, the Guardian learned of soldiers
who were deployed with almost wilful disregard to
their medical histories, and with the most cursory
physical examinations. Soldiers went to war with
chronic illnesses such as coronary disease, mental
illness, arthritis, diabetes and the nervous
condition, Tourette's syndrome, or after undergoing
recent surgery.
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Broken U.S. Troops Face Bigger Enemy at Home
By Suzanne Goldenberg
The Guardian
Saturday 03 April 2004
A stretched Pentagon is sending unfit soldiers back to
Iraq long before they are ready to serve again.
All Jason Gunn ever wanted was to be a soldier. He
put on the uniform three days after high school
graduation, and served six years with distinction. But
in the last real conversation he had with his mother
he swore he would never go back to Iraq.
The army specialist came within inches of death last
November 15, when the Humvee he was driving hit a
roadside bomb, killing his sergeant. The entire left
side of Gunn's body was splattered with shrapnel, his
elbow was shattered and, as he lay in the US military
hospital bed in Germany, he was tortured by
nightmares.
Late on March 23, Gunn told his mother, Pat, that
his commanders were putting pressure on him to return
to Iraq, but there was no way he was getting on that
plane. A few hours later, he was airborne. This week,
Gunn's distraught mother, who is herself a navy
veteran, received a first official response to her
demands to know why a soldier, who was being treated
by military doctors for combat stress, was sent back
to the war.
The note, which acknowledged Gunn suffered
post-traumatic stress, said: "After discussion of his
case it was determined ... this may be in his best
interest mentally to overcome his fear by facing it.
Therefore, he has been cleared for redeployment."
Gunn is not the only broken soldier being sent to
battle. The Guardian has uncovered more than a dozen
instances in which ill or injured soldiers were sent
to war by a US military whose resources have been
stretched near to breaking point by the simultaneous
fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In its investigation,
the Guardian learned of soldiers who were deployed
with almost wilful disregard to their medical
histories, and with the most cursory physical
examinations. Soldiers went to war with chronic
illnesses such as coronary disease, mental illness,
arthritis, diabetes and the nervous condition,
Tourette's syndrome, or after undergoing recent
surgery.
One sergeant major was shipped out two months after
neck surgery, despite orders from his military doctor
for six months' rest. "The nurse told me to put my
hands above my head and said you are good to go," he
told the Guardian. A female supply sergeant said she
was sent to Kuwait under medical advice not to walk
more than half a mile at a time, or carry more than
50lb. Both had to be medically evacuated within weeks;
the sergeant major required surgery on his return.
In some cases, the wounded were recycled with
alarming speed. A mechanic, who suffered brain damage
last June when his vehicle was hit by a suicide bus,
was sent back to Iraq in October despite reported
blurred vision and memory loss. He returned with his
unit last month, and medical evaluations showed he had
continued bleeding from the original head injury.
In Gunn's case, the determination to return him to
battle is puzzling. His unit, the 1-37 Armoured
Division, is due to return from Iraq in May. "They are
sending an injured soldier back there for seven weeks.
I can't for the life of me imagine why," says Ms Gunn.
"They say they want him to go back and face his fears,
but I just keep thinking what this whole thing will do
to a person. What are they going to send home to us?
Someone who is going to be on disability for the rest
of their lives?"
All of the injured or ill soldiers knew of other
unfit troops who were sent to Iraq last year, or have
recently been redeployed. Some, who like Gunn suffered
combat stress after sustaining serious injury, came
under enormous pressure from their commanders to
return to Iraq. Equally disturbing, a number of
returning soldiers declared unfit for service told the
Guardian the military had tried to force through their
discharge to take them off the benefit rolls.
Such soldiers are almost never seen or heard from in
a war now entering its second year, but their numbers
are growing. The Pentagon's senior health official
told Congress this week that the military had carried
out 18,000 evacuations from Iraq of wounded or ill
soldiers.
Disability Claims
Meanwhile, 15,000 soldiers who fought in Iraq and
Afghanistan have filed for disability claims. Some
12,000 have sought medical treatment from facilities
run by the department of veterans affairs. About 4,600
have sought psychological counselling. That demand
threatens to overwhelm a veterans' healthcare system
that has received no new funding since the Iraq war
began.
The drain on combat-ready soldiers - and the costs
of carrying those damaged by this war - are becoming
logistical nightmares for military planners. The
Pentagon has already been forced to extraordinary
measures. Last year, it locked up the service
contracts of National Guard members and army
reservists, preventing them from leaving the military
when their time is up.
Gunn's commanders seem adamant on keeping him. On
Wednesday, Ms Gunn was forwarded a statement from her
son. "It is my wish to be redeployed with my unit to
finish my tour of duty with my unit here in Iraq," the
statement said. "I feel that I am able to complete my
mission here as well as any other duties assigned to
me while on current deployment." It also said he had
discontinued his prescription. Ms Gunn is convinced
the statement was coerced.
Veterans' advocates say Gunn's saga reflects a
pattern in the Pentagon's dealings with casualties of
the war: send them back to battle fast or get them off
the military's books before their ailments drive costs
up. "This is a particularly stressful time for the
military because they have been committed far far
beyond their capability, and that is the reason there
is such pressure," says Stan Goff, a veterans'
activist and writer. "The numbers are becoming more
and more important. They have got to keep more bodies
in theatre."
Battle readiness barely registers. Veronica Torres,
a supply sergeant with 27 years service, was sent to
Kuwait four months after toe surgery, and with
previous injuries that restricted her movement. "Could
I run? No. Could I jump in and out of trucks? No.
Could I march a mile or two? No," she says.
She was there less than a week before reporting to
sick bay. After being medically evacuated last July,
she was diagnosed with diabetes and fibromyalgia.
Others who were evacuated for injury or illness say
their real war started on their return - with the
military bureaucracy.
Gerry Mosley, 49, a first sergeant in a
transportation unit, was injured jumping off a truck
that came under fire. By the time he was medically
retired on March 17, he was taking 56 pills a day for
shoulder, back and spinal conditions, post-traumatic
stress disorder, and Parkinson's which was not
diagnosed when he was shipped out.
Mosley also developed an abiding anger against an
institution he served for 31 years, accusing the army
of trying to shirk responsibility for his condition
now he was surplus to requirements.
"I went to Iraq and fought the enemy, not knowing I
was going to come back to the United States and fight
a bigger enemy," he says.
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Posted by richard at April 5, 2004 09:12 AM