Wounded newsman sheds light on Iraq veteran care (Bob Woodruff)

Wounded soldiers attend the opening of The Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Texas January 29, 2007. Fourteen months after being injured by an explosion in Iraq, ABC news journalist Bob Woodruff told the story of his recovery in a prime-time special on Tuesday while also turning the camera on Iraq war veterans who survived traumatic brain injury without national attention. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The explosion in Iraq blew bits of rock into Bob Woodruff's neck, broke open his skull, and put the ABC News journalist in a coma for 36 days.

Fourteen months later, Woodruff tells the story of his recovery in a prime-time special on Tuesday but rather than dwell exclusively on his own dramatic narrative, Woodruff turns the camera on Iraq war veterans who survived traumatic brain injury without national attention.

Woodruff suffered traumatic brain injury and calls it "the signature injury of the war in Iraq," largely because combat troops in Iraq are so often exposed to improvised explosive devices.

While Woodruff recovered much better than his doctors expected, many veterans cannot walk or talk and require painstaking therapy or permanent attention.

He profiles some of them in a report that adds to concerns about the level of health care Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans receive after returning home.

more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070227/hl_nm/iraq_woodruff_dc_2;_ylt=AhTKa1XCHQ8Q679db8jm.gjmWMcF

How soon can the war profiteering hearings begin?

It sheds light on the violence present in Iraq, but also on the misplaced priorities of this administration. I'm glad to hear that Bob Woodruff is doing well. His injuries were terrible, and he's a journalist. But our troops are receiving much worse and their health care needs to be addressed immediately. Better yet, just bring them home...:-(

I have a friend who had a brain injury and he has never come back. I am willing to bet that Woodruff has no short term memory. The other vets will forever suffer from this terrible injury.