http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/04/09/injured_soldiers/Injured troops shipped back into battle
Salon has uncovered further evidence that the military sent soldiers with acute post-traumatic stress disorder, severe back injuries and other serious war wounds back to Iraq.
By Mark Benjamin
Apr. 09, 2007 | On March 9,
Army Spc. Thomas Smith was ordered to board a plane from Fort Benning, Ga., to deploy back to Iraq, even though he was known to be suffering from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder from a previous tour there. Only weeks prior, military doctors determined that Smith should not be allowed around weapons because of his PTSD symptoms, which included bouts of sudden, extreme anger. Smith's medical records, obtained by Salon, also show that doctors had "highly recommended" that Smith not be deployed because of his condition.
But that did not stop Smith's commanders from ordering him to Iraq as his unit, the 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, was rushing to move out as part of President Bush's so-called surge plan for securing Baghdad.
"I was told to have my bags in at midnight that night," for the flight, Smith said. "I was sitting there looking at these letters in my hand from my doctors," he recalled in a telephone interview. In order to follow the doctors' recommendations, Smith said, "I had to check myself into the hospital." He avoided the flight by just a few hours. Smith's condition was serious enough that the doctors there kept him hospitalized for nearly two weeks.
On March 11, two days after Smith checked himself in, Salon reported on claims by numerous soldiers from Smith's brigade that commanders were pressing injured troops to deploy to Iraq. Soldiers at Fort Benning said that two doctors from the division met with 75 injured soldiers, including Smith, on Feb. 15, in what the troops said was an effort to reevaluate -- and downgrade -- their health problems so that they could be deployed with the rest of the unit. In several cases, medical records provided to Salon supported those allegations, showing the soldiers to be healthier, on paper, than they were prior to that meeting. <<<more>>>
What happened to repukes 'Supporting our Troops'. Many of these soldiers should not be heading back to the front but receiving care for the wounds - both emotional and physical.
Total bull this is happening
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