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Amputee, Wounded in Iraq, to Return to Active Duty (in Iraq!)

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Up2Late Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 12:28 PM
Original message
Amputee, Wounded in Iraq, to Return to Active Duty (in Iraq!)
I heard this on NPR's "Morning Edition" this morning. I'm NOT really sure how to feel about this. Any thoughts?:shrug:

I Especially would like to hear from any Wounded and Disabled Vets, War Veterans, and Military Veterans. What do you think of this?:shrug:

Is this a good thing? Or is this a just another sign of how bad the situation is becoming?

Real audio link available here: <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4522136>

Amputee Wounded in Iraq to Return to Active Duty

by Joseph P. Shapiro

Morning Edition, March 4, 2005 · Capt. David Rozelle of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment will soon become the Army's first amputee from a wound suffered in Iraq to return to active duty.

In the past, it's been rare for soldiers who underwent amputations to go back to war, but better prosthetic arms and legs are now allowing wounded soldiers to do more.

At Fort Carson in Colorado, Rozelle said he knows he's returning both as a fighter and as a role model -- for the soldiers under his command and for other troops with amputations.

"I'm breaking the ice for them," Rozelle says. "I don't want to be an anomaly. I want to be the first to go back. But I don't want to be the last."

Rozelle was injured in June 2003, when an anti-tank mine destroyed part of his right foot and leg. He recounts the experience in a new memoir, Back in Action: An American Soldier's Story of Courage, Faith, and Fortitude. The book's first chapter is excerpted below.

(more at link above)
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Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 12:30 PM
Response to Original message
1. Smacks of desperation!
A man loses half his leg, and is sent back into combat?
WHEN has this happened before?
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Fridays Child Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 12:36 PM
Response to Original message
2. This man has paid his dues. It's time for a...
...healthy young Republican to take his place.

I know it's not exactly on topic but shouldn't young Republican enlistees be crawling out of the woodwork? I mean, B*sh will be the first one to tell you all about his overwhelming mandate at the polls, last November. Now isn't a significant percentage of that mandate made up of able-bodied, jingo boys and girls, eager to put their money where their mouths are?
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Red State Rebel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 02:28 PM
Response to Reply #2
11. He is a Republican
I heard him on someones radio show and he is definitely a righty.
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dmkinsey Donating Member (789 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 12:43 PM
Response to Original message
3. He asked to be sent back
I think this is obvious brainwashing. It's a cult of militarism.
My nephew in the Marine Corps sustained a leg wound and continues to say he wants to go back to his unit in Iraq.

Crazy IMHO
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Oreo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 12:48 PM
Response to Original message
4. The Army should deny his request for active duty in Iraq
They'll probably fit his prosthetic leg with a rocket launcher.


It's great that he loves the US. I just don't think this is a good example for anything. I just pray his family gets him back without losing any more limbs.
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GOPBasher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 12:50 PM
Response to Original message
5. I feel bad for him.
He actually seems okay with it, but I still feel for him. Shouldn't having an amputation at least put you back home with your family?
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Spinzonner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 01:05 PM
Response to Original message
6. This raises the question

how many, er, replacements, are you allowed to have before you are disqualified from being sent back to combat ? Does it matter if thy're different kinds of limbs, on the sane side of the bady ?

Of course, one should also consider some of the positive aspect of this precedent: field replacements. If they destroy an artifical limb, just pop on a spare.

Then it's only one step to the next, brilliant, obvious idea: Preemtive Amputation. Why haul around all those fragile natural limbs - which have the undesireable side-effect of promoting blood loss and require medical intervention in case of damage - when one can mount sturdy, field-replaceable units.
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BlueManDude Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 01:24 PM
Response to Original message
7. I don't admire this guy - sorry.
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Contrary1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 01:27 PM
Response to Original message
8. Hey, it's his choice...
his life. Hopefully, he will be able to keep it.
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thereismore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 02:24 PM
Response to Original message
9. He wanted to go back in.
I guess being there with his comrades is more worthwhile than being over here with his family. I am sorry. While I admire his fighting spirit, I don't think he is a good father nor husband. I hope he comes back alive with his priorities straight.
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Up2Late Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 04:38 PM
Response to Reply #9
12. I agree with you about not being good for his Family, but what really...
...bothers me is, We already know that Troops seeking help for PTSD are often accused of being cowards, when they ask for help or to rotate home, but this brings up another question.

Is this going to be the start of troops, who "only" lose 1 leg or arm, being called a wimp or a crybaby, and pressured into doing the same as this guy?
:wtf:
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Red State Rebel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 02:27 PM
Response to Original message
10. He wrote a book about it - he wants to go back
I met another young man home on leave being treated for a knee injury and he wanted to go back too. They feel an allegiance to their buddies and want to be there with them.
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