Houston soldier dies from shrapnel wounds

[saigon68]

http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=2155181


HOUSTON A 25-year-old soldier from Houston has died from shrapnel wounds a month after he was injured during a patrol in Iraq.

The Houston Chronicle reports Lieutenant Andrew R. Houghton died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington yesterday.

At least 80 Texas service members have died in fighting in Iraq.

Houghton graduated from Strake Jesuit Preparatory School in Houston and the U-S Military Academy at West Point, New York, before he was deployed to Iraq. He commanded a platoon in the Germany-based First Infantry Division.

[trumad]

1. Probably self-inflicted.

[Bridget Burke]

7. No.

Houghton commanded a platoon in the 1st Infantry Division. He was on an early-morning patrol near Samarra on July 10 when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle came under rocket-propelled grenade fire, his family said. Houghton suffered major head wounds from shrapnel, losing two quarts of blood.

***

Last Wednesday, in a bedside ceremony just days before his death, Houghton was awarded a Purple Heart. The next night, Houghton began having seizures caused by a severe brain hemorrhage.

The family kept him on a ventilator until Friday afternoon, when his brother, aunt and uncle could arrive in Washington. They expected him to die when the ventilator was removed, but reported that, "fortunately Andy is as strong as a horse, and he is currently managing to breathe on his own."

By Saturday, doctors were trying simply to control Houghton's seizures and minimize his pain.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2727559

What a waste.

[trumad]

8. I was being sarcastic

since the repukes are telling us that Kerry's Shrapnel wounds were errrr self-inflicted.

The point is, is that shrapnel wounds kill.

[lapfog_1]

2. He won't be counted among the war dead

The actual number of US soldiers KIA is significantly higher.
Anyone that makes it to the aid station is not being counted as
KIA if they die later. This is just SO sick.

[Jo March]

4. You answered my post! Thanks

I've been telling people this but had hoped that it had changed.

What an outrage. A fucking outrage.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. An accounting of disability benefits would set the record straight

His family will be compensated as would any KIA.

[lapfog_1]

11. I wondered about that.

But the purpose is likely not the benefits thing, it's the public
relations thing. They want this war to appear to be as benign as
possible, after all, we are 15 months AFTER "Mission: Accomplished".
So the fewer lost in combat the better. Since we "turned over"
Iraq to it's new government (which, from all accounts, is picking
up right where Saddam left off), we have been in a much more defensive
posture (keeping to the various "green zones" in the major cities.
Nobody wants to go on convoy duty to move supplies (and now they
are changing from truck convoy - cheap - to airlift - expensive).
We only go out to fight when the provisional government begs, and
then we let their "police force" take most of the heavy flak.

[RivetJoint]

13. Actually he WILL

be counted among the war dead.

[anarchy1999]

15. No he will not be. You may need to pay more attention. The dead being

reported in the "official numbers" each day are only those that died in the moment the event happened. If they are wounded, flown out and then die, dearest, those numbers are not in the official count until much later, if at all.

Oh, and by the way, I forgot to say "welcome to DU." smile.

[RivetJoint]

18. They are STIIL

entered into the count of official war dead ONCE they die.

[lapfog_1]

16. OK, there have been many news stories to the contrary

Let's start with this one:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/11/03/hsorensen.DTL

so, if you can debunk this with published articles, I'd like to
read it.

(on edit) Welcome to DU! - smile

[RivetJoint]

19. There's nothing to debunk there

He doesn't give a single name of a solider, sailor, airman, or marine who died of his/her wounds and was not added to the official "death toll list."

[lapfog_1]

20. Oh jesus

NOBODY died after being evac'd? That's what you have to claim
to make the official Pentagon counts work. And that's simply
not true.

[bobbyboucher]

23. Nah nah nah nah nah nananah nah, I can't hear you. Nah nah

nananahnahnah, what? I can't hear you. Nah nah nah nah nah na na nah.

[lapfog_1]

26. Hahaha

That's kinda my reaction to all of the Bushista's supporters
when they are confronted with any facts...

[seemslikeadream]

25. Here RivetJoint and there's plenty more!

Pentagon: Eight deaths weren't reported
Also, soldier reported killed in Iraq actually died in Afghanistan
From Mike Mount
CNN Washington Bureau
Friday, February 6, 2004 Posted: 10:05 PM EST (0305 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Eight U.S. troops were not counted in the overall casualty numbers for operation in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to Pentagon officials, who cited an audit by the Department of Defense.

Pentagon officials said the names were discovered in the audit conducted after Defense Department officials found that casualty numbers appeared to be wrong.

There was no immediate answer by the services -- which have the authority to release names of the dead -- as to why the names were not originally reported.

All of the names released Friday by the Pentagon were listed as being killed by nonhostile injuries.

One name, separate from the eight, was changed from being killed during the Iraq operation to being killed during the Afghanistan operation.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/06/sprj.irq.pentagon.dead/

VETERANS FOR PEACE

Two post-Iraq suicides not listed by Army
By Mark Benjamin
United Press International
Published 1/20/2004 2:25 PM


WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A soldier who served in Iraq apparently hung himself with a bedsheet last week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but the Pentagon did not count that death two days later when it announced "a very small increase" in the suicide rate from Operation Iraqi Freedom.

It also did not count an Operation Iraqi Freedom soldier who apparently committed suicide at the same military hospital last July. The Pentagon said it is not counting suicides among troops who killed themselves after they left Iraq.

A veterans' advocate questioned that decision.
more
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Two_post_Iraq_012004.htm

[lapfog_1]

28. Thanks

I was going to start a massive google search because I don't have
any of these stories bookmarked (I just figured it was now accepted
fact that the Pentagon was cooking the books on the war dead, so
why keep any references to prove conventional wisdom... my mistake).

[seemslikeadream]

29. You're welcome here's one more link I found from Col. David Hackworth

Mark Benjamin of United Press International (UPI) has been one of the more assiduous in pursuing an accurate total of the number medically evacuated from Iraq. On December 19, Benjamin reported that in response to a request from UPI the Pentagon had provided a figure of nearly 11,000 US wounded and medical evacuations-2,273 wounded and 8,581 medical evacuations.

Hackworth writes, "Even I...was staggered when a Pentagon source gave me a copy of a Nov. 30 dispatch showing that since George W. Bush unleashed the dogs of war, our armed forces have taken 14,000 casualties in Iraq-about the number of warriors in a line tank division." The former colonel adds that the figure "means we've lost the equivalent of a fighting division since March. At least 10 percent of the total number" of available personnel-135,000-"has been evacuated back to the USA!"

Lt. Col. Scott D. Ross of the US military's Transportation Command told Hackworth that as of Christmas his "outfit had evacuated 3,255 battle-injured casualties and 18,717 non-battle injuries," a total 21,972 servicemen and women. Ross, however, cautioned that his figure might include some of the same service members counted more than once.

The major categories of "non-battle" evacuations included orthopedic surgery, 3,907; general surgery, 1,995; internal medicine, 1,291; psychiatric, 1,167; neurology, 1,002; gynecological (mostly pregnancy-related), 491.

Hackworth concludes that "it's safe to say that, so far, somewhere between 14,000 and 22,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have been medically evacuated" from the war zone in Iraq.
http://www.coastalpost.com/04/03/12.htm

[mainer]

33. The families of dead soldiers should check this site:

find out if your loved one's name is listed here.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm

(click on the link, upper righthand section, for monthly statistics).

It's a site that not only lists all casualties, both accidental and hostile, and gives the names of the dead soldiers as they become available. If you know of a dead soldier, but his name isn't on here, then you know the truth. His death HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN GOVERNMENT REPORTING.

[Crunchy Frog]

38. On this site,

http://www.icasualties.org/oif/ those deaths are listed as hostile, and they seem to keep pretty good track of them. If you clik on August, you will see his name listed.

I don't know how those deaths are categorized officially, but at least someone is keeping an accurate record.

[Jo March]

3. Will he be counted in the rolls of Iraqi war dead?

Or will he just be, um, left off of the rolls since he didn't officially die in Iraq?

[Hobarticus]

5. However he's counted, God rest him.

They all deserved better than this.

[seemslikeadream]

9. Thanks saigon68 for posting about Lieutenant Andrew R. Houghton

Our fallen children will be remembered here



FOR A SECOND PLEASE HOLD ME

http://www.bushflash.com/year.html WATCH THIS VIDEO only takes 3 minutes

Enveloped in a sentiment,
A sound that rushes over me.
Engage an impulse to pretend
I have a faith as pure.
Not forgetting what it means to dream.
Indulging everything.
Entertaining thoughts that I've the strength
Of those I yearn to be.
Cheers and tribute greet the saviours.
Reckless thoughts survive.
Anachronistic and impulsive.

And what will happen?
Will I dream?
I am too scared to close my eyes.
For a second please hold me.
None can change in me these things that I believe.
But I don't know what happens now.
I am too scared to close my eyes.

Legion
Vnv Nation

[Sparkle]

10. Sad..

[lebkuchen]

12. He's 1ID, one of ours

He went from critical to stable, seemed to be improving, and then died of a blood clot, which caused extensive brain stem damage.

The family reported daily on Andy's progress and then deterioration. It's a moving read, and a reminder of what so many of our troops and their families are going through, with these head injuries.

At least he knew his parents were by his side.

Read from the bottom, up.

http://www.andyhoughton.org

[kwolf68]

14. At the very least

The fucking criminal who put these young men in this situation should attend their funerals. Bullshit.

And those pricks in Michigan who wouldn't even fly the flag at half-staff?

I notice our soldiers in that picture are "honoring" a fallen comrade...if they can do then the Republican jerks in Michigan can do it and Bush's sorry ass can do it.

Screw this "under-mining" the war garbage. If the war CAN BE undermined then that means there is probably something WRONG WITH IT you idiots.

How many people protested World War II?

[saigon68]

17. THIS IS VERY VERY SAD

http://www.andyhoughton.org/news.htm

I WILL KEEP MY USUAL SARCASM QUIET AND TO MYSELF TODAY.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

21. Very sad indeed. eom

[Bridget Burke]

22. And this is just one story whose details we can know.

Multiplied by how many?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

24. At least 10,000 wounded

If you assume a 1 in 10 fatal casualty rate. I honestly don't know though.

[Jacobin]

27. This brave man and thousands of others are being put in danger

by silly, moronic warmongers who are war criminals.

Bush* is gonnna get his ass KICKED in November and I'll remember this man who died fighting for Smirk's brain fart, along with the others who are maimed and killed.

Send the chimpanzee to the Hague.

[catmandu57]

30. I've long suspected false counts

I don't care if there is body aurmor (for some) or aurmored humvees (for some), war is a dirty dangerous business, there are many ways to die.
I don't believe for a second we've ever been told the truth, not when it's been proven time and time again that these bastards are liars. Now they're making it easier than ever to lie to us, we have no eyes and ears, we don't know how many coffins are coming home in the dead of night.
We don't know the extent of the wounds, and just how many take their toll later as in this case, maybe we never will.

[seemslikeadream]

31. between 14,000 and 22,000

Col. Hackworth concludes that "it's safe to say that, so far, somewhere between 14,000 and 22,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have been medically evacuated" from the war zone in Iraq.
http://www.coastalpost.com/04/03/12.htm

[NewYorkerfromMass]

36. So 1 in 10 is a conservative estimate

for survivors of near fatal wounds- for if you read the blog saigon68 linked below, this soldier should have died immediately were it not for quick work by the field medical evac team. Technology has allowed many wounded to leave the battlefield alive, who could not have done so 10 or 20 years ago. So one must assume that there are many, many more living wounded than historical rates of survival have allowed in the past.

[saigon68]

37. Living vs. existing

There is no way that this was "living". It was a science experiment.

[seemslikeadream]

32. 2,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq: Russian expert

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, JULY 23. The United States suffers far heavier casualties in Iraq than it officially admits, a Russia military diplomat claimed.

The actual U.S. military losses in Iraq may have reached 2,000 personnel, more than twice the official figure of 900, as Washington badly understates its casualty statistics, a military diplomatic source told the Itar-Tass news agency.

"Official statistics do not include casualties among non-U.S. nationals who sign up to serve in the American armed forces in order to get a U.S. `green card.' According to reliable information the share of non-Americans in the U.S. force in Iraq may be as high as 60 per cent," the source said. "The real number of U.S. losses may be as high as 2,000 casualties and up to 12,000 wounded," the military diplomat said.
http://www.hindu.com/2004/07/24/stories/2004072402401400.htm

seems to agree with Col. Hackworth on the number of wounded

[seemslikeadream]

34. January 12, 2004 - 100th soldier dies in Afghanistan

These soldiers are not counted with the Iraq casulties

January 12, 2004

100th soldier dies in Afghanistan
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2545853.php

[seemslikeadream]

35. War toll: journalists killed, missing and held in Iraq

Journalists and Photographers Die Trying to Tell Us Truths

Wednesday April 16, 2003 The Guardian

DEAD
Veronica Cabrera, freelance camerawoman for Argentina's America TV
Mario Podesta, freelance reporter for Argentina's America TV
Jose Couso, Tele Cinco cameraman
Taras Protsyuk, Reuters cameraman
Tareq Ayyoub, Al-Jazeera cameraman
Julio Anguita Parrado, reporter for Spanish newspaper El Mundo
Christian Liebig, journalist for German Focus magazine
Terry Lloyd, ITN correspondent
Paul Moran, freelance Australian cameraman
Kaveh Golestan, freelance BBC cameraman
Michael Kelly American journalist and Washington Post columnist
Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed, BBC translator
Gaby Rado, Channel 4 News foreign affairs correspondent
David Bloom, NBC TV correspondent

MISSING
Fred Nerac, French ITN cameraman
who went missing in the ambush that killed Terry Lloyd on March 22.
Hussein Osman, Lebanese translator
who went missing in the ambush that killed Terry Lloyd

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/lind000003.htm