Returning to Duty

Only 10 soldiers who have lost a limb have returned to the battlefield. But 26 have returned to active duty.
[Source: Beating the Odds, Amputees Return to Active Duty, David Kerley, ABC News, March 20, 2006]

Beating the Odds, Amputees Return to Active Duty

Beating the Odds, Amputees Return to Active Duty

March 20, 2006 — Among the 17,000 injured in Iraq, nearly half have not returned to duty.

But there are a remarkable few who, despite losing limbs, have fought to return to the fight.

Capt. David Rozelle is one of the trailblazers. As a tank commander in Iraq in 2003, he survived a mine explosion that blew off the front end of his Humvee.

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Mentioned:
David Rozelle, foot
Tim Gustafson, leg
Sean Wright, both hands

Charity offers hope to wounded veterans returning from war

Charity offers hope to wounded veterans returning from war
Published on March 20, 2006

By Geoffrey D. Brown
News-Post Staff
FREDERICK — Twelve injured Iraq War veterans got a heartfelt welcome to Frederick on Sunday at a benefit breakfast prepared by Marine Corps veterans at the Elks Lodge on Willowdale Drive.

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Mentioned:
Marissa Strock, Both legs, BK

Soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing the unthinkable: Going back into battle

Soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing the unthinkable: Going back into battle

By Pat Wingert and T. Trent GegaxNewsweekMarch 14 issue - Army S/Sgt. Daniel Metzdorf figured his career as an infantryman was over when he lost his right leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq in January 2004. But back at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, Metzdorf saw other amputees ambling by on high-tech prosthetic legs and had a crazy idea: he wanted to go back into battle with the 82nd Airborne. It was a long and painful struggle. The 28-year-old had 19 operations and faced hours of grueling rehab, first learning to walk again, and then to run and swim. Confident that he was ready, Metzdorf applied for reinstatement. But instead of a new post, the Army had another offer: a medical discharge. To a fighter like Metzdorf, quitting didn't seem like an option. "I told them, 'I'm not going to get out'," he says. He applied—and was rejected—twice more before he won over one important ally, his unit commander, who weighed in on his behalf. Finally, the Army relented, assigning Metzdorf to a desk job at Fort Bragg, N.C. He's still angling to get back to combat duty in Iraq. "I'm still an asset," Metzdorf says. "I just want to give back as much as I got."

Number of Wounded; Number of Amputees

Notification is increasingly important because higher proportions of service members are surviving combat injuries. As of Feb. 4, 16,653 service members have been wounded and survived, accounting for 88 percent of all casualties. This is the highest such rate in our history.
[Source]

Notes: This may or may not be the total number wounded. I have read that they report only the number wounded in combat. So, the number could be higher.

If we take 6% of this number, as reported in an earlier post. This would make the number of amputees 999.

Army fails families of injured

Army fails families of injuredBy Alec BarkerSixteen times last year I delivered the worst kind of news a soldier's mother or wife receives. I had to inform them their loved one was injured in combat.
As difficult as this task may seem, it was complicated by the U.S. Army's antiquated system for keeping families of combat-wounded soldiers informed after a battlefield injury.
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6 Percent of Casualties are Amputees

The Pentagon says about six percent of the casualties in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have returned home with one or more limbs amputated. The Intrepid Center is slated to provide rehabilitation and other treatment for about 400 of those each year.
[Source]

Mentioned:
Ryan Kules, 22

Army amputees enjoy therapy of a different color with a visit to an upcounty riding center

The soldiers beamed as they made their way around an obstacle course on horseback Friday as part of a therapy session set to help improve the balance of many who have suffered amputations during their military duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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TI Offers 'Bionic' Alternatives For Amputees

(CBS 11 News) DALLAS Thousands of U.S. troops have returned home from the war in Iraq with injuries. Hundreds have had their arms or legs amputated..
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