Military+Disabled

=Military Disabled=

In every war, there has been, and always will be soldiers that die and soldiers that get injured. Before the 20th century i t was common for more soldiers to die then to get injured. This was because medical care was not always helpful, and most of the time unsanitary. Due to improved armor and medical care in the more recent of wars, many more soldiers are surviving with injuries rather then dying. It is very fortunate that these soldiers are able to come home alive, but in many cases, many of them require life long care. Injuries such as brain or spinal damage can paralyze or mentally impair someone. In the Iraq war, more then 4,000 American soldiers suffered this fate. Many are forced to live in wheel chairs for the rest of their lives. More serious brain injuries can cause soldiers to have an extremely difficult time accomplishing every-day tasks that were routine before the injury. Another common disability is a loss of a limb. Whether it is an arm or a leg, a person who receives an amputation normally receives a replacement limp, and has to live the rest of their life functioning with it.



Wounded Soldiers in Recent American Wars:

Korean War-
77,788 injuries that required hospitalization. 17,910 bone breaks/fractures. 48,217 wounds. 1,120 amputations of limbs.

Vietnam War-
303,704 wounded soldiers - 153,329 required hospitalization. Severely disabled: 75,000. 23,214 were classified 100% disabled. 5,283 lost limbs, 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

Iraq War-
23,677 officially wounded American soldiers as of March, 2007. 20% of which that are serious brain or spinal injuries. 500 amputations of limbs as of January, 2007.

We should care about disabled soldiers because in many cases, these men and women will have to live through a disability for the remainder of their life. Ones that can be cured will still have to receive hospitalization and may take a long time to recover. As you can see from the recent American war statistics, hundreds of thousands of men have returned home from war in an injured condition, and we owe them are respect and support for fighting for our country.

Bibliography-
"Vietnam War Statistics." __Navy/Army Pages__. Mobile Riverine Force Association. 18 Dec. 2007 .