You would really be an asset to a squad of soldiers if you had to administer first aid to one who got injured.

Do your country a favor.......NEVER join their military.

:down: :down: :down: :down: :down:


Did I say :down: to you yet?

Man....you don't see pictures like these in Sweden....makes me unwillingly wonder what hell they walked through..... God, war is a horrible thing!

For the record, I haven't heard anything good about Bush here in Sweden since....well, 2003 I think.....

At least he bothers.

These poor buggers may be disfigured, and they may be disabled, but they signed up as volunteers. Last time i checked the US doesnt have conscription...

They signed up knowing that there was a chance they'd be sent away to fight a war... whether they agree with it or not, i've little doubt they went into it gladly - its their job! its what they put so many hard hours into training for...

Bottom liine of it is that they accept the risks when they enlist, these poor fellas lucked out but believe it or not, people have been coming home from wars in similar states for thousands of years.

Actually there is an ironic note to make here:

Thanks to the recent advances in medicine, the Iraq war has so far produced the highest rate of severely disabled veterans yet. Previous wars would have many of such casualties die of their injuries. I don't remember where I saw these stats, but the ratio of KIA to WIA in Iraq definitely had me raising an eyebrow when I saw it.

That said, well... they knew what they were doing. Or should've known.
I definitely sympathise with all service men, but with volunteer forces like this - you just have to recognize that these are repercussions of their own choices.

Makes sense too ccip, the advances in medicine have allowed those who would otherwise have died to live. I do think its an unintended consequence of these achievements that you have people who are unrecognisable. Might also go a long way to explaining the increased suicide rates amongst returned vets in the states.

Every action has an opposite reaction...

George Bush killed my cat and he tuhk oaur jeeerrrrbbbsss......

He tuk are Jerrrrrbs!

My perception is most of them understand this, but the government is pretty stingy with compensation, I don't like that at all. It didn't start with this administration, either. If you are disabled in military service, you should be treated better than we treat our vets. :down:

Yea, that's a whole other big issue of course. For all the photo ops bush had, outside of these top-edge facilities where the real bad cases go - vet support has always been an issue in the state. Also heard some nasty figures on vets & homelessness - I'm sure Sailor Steve could tell us all about that :-?

Curious how "elite_hunter_sh3" remarks have ceased...Thank God. :up: I couldn't take any more constructive, insightful, enlightning, conversation.

Pointed out by CCIP I also had noted that fact before about the survival rate...yes before many men would have simply died.

And I do not understand either how our vets are not treated better for the sacrifice they make wether or not they are injured or not, they deserve the best medical treatment and benifits available.As an American tax payer I will gladly accept more taxes out of my pay if I know for sure the money is going to vets and they're needs.

"Within 48 hours of telling his story to CNN this summer, the Office of then-VA Secretary Jim Nicholson acted on Ziegel's case. The VA changed his head trauma injury, once rated at 10 percent, to traumatic brain injury rated at 100 percent, substantially increasing his monthly disability check." from Neals link...WTG press action.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Unfortunately, the US is as divided as I've ever seen. Even more than it was in the Vietnam era. If we continue our current course it will get much more difficult to correct.

I do fault our current administation for this. If the CEO of a company let things get out of hand this badly, he would most certainly be shown the door. A nation is basically a Huge Corporation. And history has shown they can fail and fall. The US is no exception.

But I do want us out of the war in Iraq. I do want my son and all other soldiors to come home. And I do know that none of them will ever be the same--my son cetainly wasn't after his 1st tour. At the very least, the number of tours they are required to make should be limited to two.

My opinion is that our current administration simply doesn't care about anything except stroking their own egos and padding their wallets.

Back home in their halls of stone
Important men look on
They see the numbers, not the names
Not the dying sons

You'd think they'd see the wars must cease
The wars that they've begun
You'd think learn to understand
A war just can't be won

Peto

100% agree! Most military families of 4 are boarderline poverty level. Throw in disfigurement or loss of limb and your screwed. Lets not bring up the condition of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This was a travesty. Thankfully some contractors showed up with construction material and fixed it......another act of congress to get it done:roll: I was fortunate enough to send in one of my Landstar show trucks with murals of two soldiers (my drivers son and his friend) on both sides of the truck. This was for the dedication of the new wing off the hospital. The truck was full of free hand outs and baskets of goodies. The soldiers were very appreciative and so were their families.


You can not seriously believe this?


This is this generations Vietnam. No matter what angle you look at it, the situation is not good.

Wow, I drop off the sonar from Subsim after joining the Marines, and i guess some things don't change. Always lot's of political debate going on...

Anyways, what if I told you the situation "over there" wasn't as grim as the media says it is? What if I said that my buddies over there right now are literally bored because the Iraqi troops have really taken things over running patrols, checkpoints, etc. You never see it on CNN, oh no. But then when the troops say anything other that what the media says, ooohhh were brainwashed, we don't know whats going on. I knew fully well that when I joined up, I could end up like swiss cheese, or dead. But I'd rather go and do it voluntarily, so others don't have to. One of the many reasons I hate politics. No matter what you do, what your intentions, people will always fling mud, whether you are actually doing something good for other people or not. They always point out the worst in someone./Rant off

An honest and straight post, thank you. Best wishes for your son's safe return. Cause when I say that I'm also a million miles away from politics.