Quote of note
"Personally, I think there's a difference between living and being alive," Howard said. "A lot of us fear losing an arm or a leg; a lot of guys worry they'll get hurt and lose their genitals. It's the head injuries that are the worst, in my opinion. I fear getting a head wound -- having brain damage and still being alive, but not being able to care for my wife or kids."
15,220 live with the wounds of war
- Phil Sands, Chronicle Foreign Service
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Rawa, Iraq -- Less than two months into his first tour as a combat medic with the U.S. Army, Sgt. Erik Howard has treated 14 wounded soldiers at the scenes of bomb blasts.
None of the men in his squadron, the 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, is among the 2,001 U.S. military personnel who have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. But for Howard and many other soldiers, death is not the main concern. They pay more attention to the ever-spiraling casualty rate.
As of Oct. 15, according to the Pentagon, 15,220 members of the U.S. military had been wounded in action since the Iraqi operation began in March 2003 -- 542 during the war that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and 14,678 since U.S. troops began battling the insurgency. Nearly half of those wounded were injured severely enough that they could not return to duty within 72 hours.
