wounded warriors

[gimpcoach]

Just a note about our current war: "This is a war of disability, not a war of deaths" according to former Army physician Ronald Glasser. The pentagon admits to 31,848 wounded as of the end of April. They don't argue with the more accurate figure of 320,000 or 20% of the 1.64 million who have served so far since they only count wounds that bleed. Every IED that goes off leaves soldiers with closed head injuries at best. For those that have never worked with closed head injuries. . . they do not heal. . . they are forever. . .some are worse than others but. . . they are forever and they are debilitating. The wounds that soldiers survive today are unbelievable in their severity. We have kids returning from this conflict who have been ripped and torn and blasted almost beyond human recognition. One mother said all she recognized on her son was his size 12 feet. . . and he lived, blind, deaf and permanently brain damaged. Psychological symptoms are showing up in 31% of Marines, 38% of Army, and 49% of National Guardsmen who served over there. The military tries to discharge these soldiers before they even come out of comas so that they can pawn them off on the VA and be done with them. Friday we head for Edmond, OK for the Endeavor Games. There will be programs there for the Wounded Warriors Project. I have been able to see first hand the progress these guys and girls have made to recover from unspeakable injuries. Each year there are new ones starting the process. Why am I writing this rant? Because I noticed that there are 18 pages of posts arguing about the troop surge and if it's working or not. It's working all right. . .more and more soldiers are being mutilated every day over there and the government and press neither one will report on that. I won't comment on whether or not a third rate dictator and country of people who can't function without someone telling them what to do is worth it. I want to see some action by the "patriots" to help those who have been devastated by this conflict. Shut up and do something. search: The Wounded Warrior Project, The Military Family Network, and the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes.
GG

[Guisslapp]

Don't make TylerTechsas copy and paste something at you!

[gimpcoach]

He should copy and paste to the Marine I met in Edmond who was missing one leg above the knee and had a good leg that was being held together screws and a brace from his ass to his toes or the girl (Army) with both legs blown off at the HIP!
GG

[Guisslapp]

Crickets.

[GonzoDawg]

Maybe you would prefer that they were dead. Our body armour is keeping a lot of folks alive that wouldn't have survived in the past.

[mildawg]

Crickets.

No, no crickets. Just no need to respond. People that assume they're the only ones doing things for the wounded veterans aren't worth responding to. We host the "Wounded Warriors" from Walter Reed every month here at work, and many of us actually make rounds at the hospital and deliver goodies to the troops and their families. I didn't feel the need to respond to GC, because most people do things like I describe above out of the goodness of their hearts -- they don't go around tooting their own horn while bashing everyone else.

But while we're on the subject and you feel the need to snipe everyone, what are you doing for the wounded soldiers? Wait, don't answer. I already know.

[gimpcoach]

No, no crickets. Just no need to respond. People that assume they're the only ones doing things for the wounded veterans aren't worth responding to. We host the "Wounded Warriors" from Walter Reed every month here at work, and many of us actually make rounds at the hospital and deliver goodies to the troops and their families. I didn't feel the need to respond to GC, because most people do things like I describe above out of the goodness of their hearts -- they don't go around tooting their own horn while bashing everyone else.

But while we're on the subject and you feel the need to snipe everyone, what are you doing for the wounded soldiers? Wait, don't answer. I already know.

SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING! YOU'RE NOT ONE OF THE ONES I WAS TALKING TO. i hope your business is also hiring some of the people you are visiting. business tends to be very shy when a wheelchair or multiple prosthetics are involved. posters also tend to not take into consideration the people directly effected by the positions they advocate-(see "walk a mile in my shoes" ) you don't have the slightest idea what i do. i am a certified paralympic track and field official and coach. i am on a national registry of volunteer coaches who are willing to work with any disabled athlete in our area. i am currently chairman of the Louisiana GUMBO organization which is a Paralympic Sports Club, with getting these disabled vets back into an active lifestyle as a major function of our charge as a PSC. for those that are interested we can get them into competitive sports. we constantly beg for volunteers and we never get enough. did i mention that all of us in this field are volunteers? we are paid 0 and expect 0. you said you didn't see the need to respond. . . but you did. maybe you are one of the few that really care. i'm just trying to rattle the collective cage and maybe encourage a few more who care to do something. the majority will brush all this off as another rant by gimpcoach.

[gimpcoach]

Maybe you would prefer that they were dead. Our body armour is keeping a lot of folks alive that wouldn't have survived in the past.

keeping them alive means we also have to assume responsibility for getting them back into the real world.

[mildawg]

SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING! YOU'RE NOT ONE OF THE ONES I WAS TALKING TO. i hope your business is also hiring some of the people you are visiting. business tends to be very shy when a wheelchair or multiple prosthetics are involved. posters also tend to not take into consideration the people directly effected by the positions they advocate-(see "walk a mile in my shoes" ) you don't have the slightest idea what i do. i am a certified paralympic track and field official and coach. i am on a national registry of volunteer coaches who are willing to work with any disabled athlete in our area. i am currently chairman of the Louisiana GUMBO organization which is a Paralympic Sports Club, with getting these disabled vets back into an active lifestyle as a major function of our charge as a PSC. for those that are interested we can get them into competitive sports. we constantly beg for volunteers and we never get enough. did i mention that all of us in this field are volunteers? we are paid 0 and expect 0. you said you didn't see the need to respond. . . but you did. maybe you are one of the few that really care. i'm just trying to rattle the collective cage and maybe encourage a few more who care to do something. the majority will brush all this off as another rant by gimpcoach.

Yes, we actually have hired a couple of them with the skill sets we need. In fact, our operations center was just given a complete makeover to accomodate the handicapped. I can certainly appreciate--but never fully understand--what these guys are going through. Even though many are permanently disabled, to include missing limbs, they are generally very upbeat and positive. Many of us could learn lessons from these guys.

I was not necessarily responding to your post -- as a former military member who is eternally grateful that I am not one of those bound to a wheelchair, I can certainly appreciate the time and effort that you dedicate to these wounded warriors. I was mainly responding to someone who was implying that none of us had done or were doing anything for these heros based on the fact that no one had responded. I just didn't feel compelled to respond until I read a couple of those sarcastic posts.

[gimpcoach]

i've spent the last 30 years doing this with kids. now my fellow coaches and i are faced with doing the same thing with adults. the numbers will survive past my usefulness and i want to see more, younger people getting involved now. we're still adding to the numbers who will need assistance for many years to come. let's face it, this war is keeping you and me both employed and busy. . . no offense intended (and yes, i read your profile)


gg

[TYLERTECHSAS]

keeping them alive means we also have to assume responsibility for getting them back into the real world.

And that's a bad thing?? I'm not going to get in a pissing match with you because you are right. That said, thank the Good Lord the "Troop Surge" has and is working so we can get the heck out of there and bring these guys home sooner. And you know why that thread was started if you read those "18 pages". Nuff said!

[gimpcoach]

please see #3 above.
GG

[Spinoza]

Just a note about our current war: "This is a war of disability, not a war of deaths" according to former Army physician Ronald Glasser. The pentagon admits to 31,848 wounded as of the end of April. They don't argue with the more accurate figure of 320,000 or 20% of the 1.64 million who have served so far since they only count wounds that bleed. Every IED that goes off leaves soldiers with closed head injuries at best. For those that have never worked with closed head injuries. . . they do not heal. . . they are forever. . .some are worse than others but. . . they are forever and they are debilitating. The wounds that soldiers survive today are unbelievable in their severity. We have kids returning from this conflict who have been ripped and torn and blasted almost beyond human recognition. One mother said all she recognized on her son was his size 12 feet. . . and he lived, blind, deaf and permanently brain damaged. Psychological symptoms are showing up in 31% of Marines, 38% of Army, and 49% of National Guardsmen who served over there. The military tries to discharge these soldiers before they even come out of comas so that they can pawn them off on the VA and be done with them. Friday we head for Edmond, OK for the Endeavor Games. There will be programs there for the Wounded Warriors Project. I have been able to see first hand the progress these guys and girls have made to recover from unspeakable injuries. Each year there are new ones starting the process. Why am I writing this rant? Because I noticed that there are 18 pages of posts arguing about the troop surge and if it's working or not. It's working all right. . .more and more soldiers are being mutilated every day over there and the government and press neither one will report on that. I won't comment on whether or not a third rate dictator and country of people who can't function without someone telling them what to do is worth it. I want to see some action by the "patriots" to help those who have been devastated by this conflict. Shut up and do something. search: The Wounded Warrior Project, The Military Family Network, and the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes.
GG

I do not know......
If you are familiar with what many on this board often refer to as my drunken jibberish......
But I have long been authoring missives here in an effort to inform/remind ANYONE WHO CARES...... Of the terrible cost of this STUPID and NEEDLESS poor excuse for a "patriotic" American war.

In my posts......
I have often referred to the DEAD FOREVER and the WOUNDED and the MAIMED.
And I have also tried to stir some thoughts regarding the mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers, and wives and childen, and the other relatives and friends of EVERY American "casualty", as each experiences a LOSS that ADDS significantly IMNHO to the TRUE COST of this disgraceful little-george-war!.
And I have also tried to stir additional thoughts regarding the countless civilian/innocent Iraqi common folk who have ALSO BEEN KILLED and MAIMED and BRUTALIZED in the NAME OF OUR ALLEGED AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC DECENCY!

But it was not until I read your post this evening that I realized the degree to which America's little george war has ravaged the COMMON SOLDIER......
And the extent of the camouflage involved beneath shadows of FLAG-WAVING "patriotism" and pure political poppycock.

I do not know if you have always considered the little george war in Iraq to be both ILLEGAL and IMMORAL, as I have from its first reckless "shock and awe" moment......
Or if you believe (like many on this board) that MORE DEAD AND MAIMED are NEEDED to "SCORE A WIN" in some bullshit bastardization of neocon/evangelical arithmetic?
But I suspect that you are currently more concerned with the TODAY REALITY of this war......
Than you are with any prior political or philosophical folly.

If so......
And if you KNOW......
I would like to LEARN more about how the current little george/big dick administration is actually CARING for THEIR CASUALTIES OF WAR, and any dependent wife and/or children, each casuality may invlove?
Is it enough?
If not...... Why not?
If not...... What can I and/or all others on this board who care, do to prod more than "you're doing a great job, Brownie...... Federal falderal?
If not...... Where can individuals like myself send real dollars to help?

BTW......
Would you happen to know if any of the lavish Roe v. Wade/evangelical TITHE MONEY so religiously raised to elect little george and support his subsequent oil war, and so forth......
Is currently FLOWING FREELY to the aid of its DEAD OR MAIMED FOREVER Christian soldiers?

Last question......
Once America has finally rid itself of its current little george blight......
Will McCain or Obama (IYO) BEST SERVE the needs of all whom have come to know and care about, on the personal plateau where you routinely walk with such obvious and sincere concern?

Cheers.

[gimpcoach]

I do not know......
If you are familiar with what many on this board often refer to as my drunken jibberish......
But I have long been authoring missives here in an effort to inform/remind ANYONE WHO CARES...... Of the terrible cost of this STUPID and NEEDLESS poor excuse for a "patriotic" American war.

In my posts......
I have often referred to the DEAD FOREVER and the WOUNDED and the MAIMED.
And I have also tried to stir some thoughts regarding the mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers, and wives and childen, and the other relatives and friends of EVERY American "casualty", as each experiences a LOSS that ADDS significantly IMNHO to the TRUE COST of this disgraceful little-george-war!.
And I have also tried to stir additional thoughts regarding the countless civilian/innocent Iraqi common folk who have ALSO BEEN KILLED and MAIMED and BRUTALIZED in the NAME OF OUR ALLEGED AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC DECENCY!

But it was not until I read your post this evening that I realized the degree to which America's little george war has ravaged the COMMON SOLDIER......
And the extent of the camouflage involved beneath shadows of FLAG-WAVING "patriotism" and pure political poppycock.

I do not know if you have always considered the little george war in Iraq to be both ILLEGAL and IMMORAL, as I have from its first reckless "shock and awe" moment......
Or if you believe (like many on this board) that MORE DEAD AND MAIMED are NEEDED to "SCORE A WIN" in some bullshit bastardization of neocon/evangelical arithmetic?
But I suspect that you are currently more concerned with the TODAY REALITY of this war......
Than you are with any prior political or philosophical folly.

If so......
And if you KNOW......
I would like to LEARN more about how the current little george/big dick administration is actually CARING for THEIR CASUALTIES OF WAR, and any dependent wife and/or children, each casuality may invlove?
Is it enough?
If not...... Why not?
If not...... What can I and/or all others on this board who care, do to prod more than "you're doing a great job, Brownie...... Federal falderal?
If not...... Where can individuals like myself send real dollars to help?

BTW......
Would you happen to know if any of the lavish Roe v. Wade/evangelical TITHE MONEY so religiously raised to elect little george and support his subsequent oil war, and so forth......
Is currently FLOWING FREELY to the aid of its DEAD OR MAIMED FOREVER Christian soldiers?

Last question......
Once America has finally rid itself of its current little george blight......
Will McCain or Obama (IYO) BEST SERVE the needs of all whom have come to know and care about, on the personal plateau where you routinely walk with such obvious and sincere concern?

Cheers.

i would say amen to that!! also, IMHO, i think we need people willing to give time and talent more than money. when money is given somebody usually gets rich and the people who need it never see it. i get my paycheck from teaching handicapped kids and i spend my spare time with disabled athletics,both youth and adult. i want to see the need for both jobs disappear but i won't see it in my lifetime.
GG

[Spinoza]

Yes, we actually have hired a couple of them with the skill sets we need. In fact, our operations center was just given a complete makeover to accomodate the handicapped. I can certainly appreciate--but never fully understand--what these guys are going through. Even though many are permanently disabled, to include missing limbs, they are generally very upbeat and positive. Many of us could learn lessons from these guys.

I was not necessarily responding to your post -- as a former military member who is eternally grateful that I am not one of those bound to a wheelchair, I can certainly appreciate the time and effort that you dedicate to these wounded warriors. I was mainly responding to someone who was implying that none of us had done or were doing anything for these heros based on the fact that no one had responded. I just didn't feel compelled to respond until I read a couple of those sarcastic posts.

"A COUPLE OF THEM"......?????

What does that mean?
Are you such a LARGE FEDERAL DEFENSE CONTRACTOR that you do not know much about all your vast labor force?
IF SO...... Why only a "couple of THEM"?

But if you are merely a relatively small FEDERAL DEFENSE CONTRACTOR...... Why would you not state the precise number of maimed veterans now employed in your "makeover" accomodations...... With at least some tad of detail?

This board is rife with YOUR SUPPORT for little george's war.
But I have never once noticed YOU mention any PROFIT in YOUR pocket, or on YOUR company balance sheets, as a result of THE WAR!

Or perhaps YOU are a FEDERAL DEFENSE CONTRACTOR who has not PROFITED so much as one FDR dime throughout all the Iraq War/little george years of needless death and destruction?