Iraq: The Uncounted

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/19/60minutes/main656756.shtml

...Today, Schneider walks with a limp, on his artificial leg. But even though he was injured while on a mission in a war zone – and even though he’ll receive the same benefits as a soldier who’d been shot - he is not included in the Pentagon’s casualty count. Their official tally shows only deaths and wounded in action. It doesn't include "non-combat" injured, those whose injuries were not the result of enemy fire.

"It's a slap in the face. Although it was through no direct hostile action, I was on a mission that they’d given me in hostile territory. Hostile enough that we had to have a perimeter set up at the time of my accident to prevent from an ambush or an attack," says Schneider. "For those of us that were unfortunate enough to get injured. Whether it was hostile action or not, we're all paying the same price."

How many injured and ill soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines - like Chris Schneider - are left off the Pentagon’s casualty count?

Would you believe 15,000? 60 Minutes asked the Department of Defense to grant us an interview. They declined. Instead, they sent a letter, which contains a figure not included in published casualty reports: "More than 15,000 troops with so-called 'non-battle' injuries and diseases have been evacuated from Iraq."

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So-called, my ass. I feel for these kids. I can't understand the lack of American OUTRAGE at this. This is a worthwhile article--wish I had caught the Sixty Minutes piece on it.

with the lives of our soliders. The services have very confusing rules that allow them not to count injuries as combat related. This protects and benefits the higher ups and hurts our troops.

This sounds as shoddy as the tax scheme Bushco™ has cooked up. So what is the total figure now? About 10,000 + 1300 + 15000? Is this close? Around 26,300 casualties?

yeah, So you have gotten injured while in war zone, But since you are still alive, YOU DON'T COUNT! Too bad about your leg and all, But oh well. :mad: :nuke: :mad:

with the numbers of Iraqi's killed and injured..most of the people I know who rely on network news for this info have not the slightest idea if you ask them how many have been killed in combat or otherwise.. I have heard anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 and mentioned this to a Co worker who informed me that this is WRONG and when I asked what info he had to the contrary he said I don't know the numbers but we have only lost around 1300 so it could not possibly be that high... It took enormous self control not to strangle him.......

It is unfortunate that the DoD uses their own select criteria to report the war's wounded. As mentioned in this piece, this is one way to buffer the casualties (wounded/dead) and alleviate public disdain for this awful war.

several Iraqis and was now suffering terrible depression because of his actions....He is also one of the non-counted....I have an awful feeling there are going to be thousands of depressed, unable-to-funcion young people left over from this terrible war.

In the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, the local paper regularly carries stories on those that have come back missing an arm or a leg or carry emotional scars so deep I will never understand them.

http://www.mtdemocrat.com/?search=go&o=0&q=iraq&d1=02-08-2004&d2=11-22-2004&s=relevance&r=Subject%2CAuthor%2CContent&l=20

You have to have a subscription.. but here are some of the descriptions:

A community mourned on Friday night. Lance Corporal Brad Shuder is dead, and the lives he touched gathered at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in El Dorado Hills to remember his life. Though the church
held less than the 912 capacity crowd, every sea...

When U.S. Army Private Christopher Perez, 21, of Cameron Park came home from Iraq, it was not to marching, nor to the beat of drums, nor to shouts. He returned to the United States in an air ambulance, hooked up to tubes and other life-sustaining equ...

CAMERON PARK - Not all the people outside Bel-Air Market in the Goldorado Shopping Center over the Memorial Day weekend were there to shop. Many people stopped by just to sign the gigantic get well card for wounded U.S. Army Private Christopher Perez...

A rocket-propelled grenade launched at an Army vehicle outside of Fallujah, Iraq seriously injured Placerville native David Sterling II, 23, Tuesday. "He was in heavy combat and an RPG was launched from above," Rosemary Sterling, David's mother, said...

It appears David Sterling II is at Walter Reed Army hospital in Washington, D.C. He was due to be transferred there from Germany, where he had been flown after being wounded in the battle to retake Fallujah from Sunni and Bathist insurgents. His moth...

Army Specialist David Sterling II, 23, has made it safely back to the United States and is receiving treatment at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "He lost his right hand above the wrist," said Chris Dennis, a friend and co-wor...

SHINGLE SPRINGS - Outside on a balmy summer afternoon, Longview Lake shimmers in the sun, trees shading its banks. "Iraq was such a hot and hellish place, but I would think of this and it made me feel better," said Army National Guard Specialist Vaug...

Expired bullet-proof vests from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department will likely see even more action in Iraq. About 60 vests from the Sheriff's Department will shield newly formed Iraqi law enforcement agencies against bullets in Iraq, Undershe...

Staff writer Lance Cpl. Brad Shuder's mother Rose took her time looking over the photographs of her son. Tears well up in her eyes as she goes through an album. The pictures show a smiling Brad graduating from boot camp with the U.S. Marine Corps. On...

CAMERON PARK - A lot has been written about U.S. Army Private First Class Christopher Perez since he was seriously injured in Iraq on May 2. The only thing missing was an interview with the shy Purple Heart honoree who turned 21 in February while se...


I remember reading these articles and seeing the pictures of the kids with their new mechanical prosthetics. This is a small community in California, of all places.. and we have already lost a couple of our own and many more are returning back with less parts then they left with.

I have to believe this is happening in other places and that people are waking up.

Welcome to DU!! :toast: