Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.[...]
The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 1/2 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution into something else entirely -- a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients...
[...]They suffer from brain injuries, severed arms and legs, organ and back damage, and various degrees of post-traumatic stress. Their legions have grown so exponentially -- they outnumber hospital patients at Walter Reed 17 to 1 -- that they take up every available bed on post and spill into dozens of nearby hotels and apartments leased by the Army. The average stay is 10 months, but some have been stuck there for as long as two years.
[...]
...Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon, 43, came in on one of those buses in November 2004 and spent several weeks on the fifth floor of Walter Reed's hospital. His eye and skull were shattered by an AK-47 round. His odyssey in the Other Walter Reed has lasted more than two years, but it began when someone handed him a map of the grounds and told him to find his room across post.
[...]Shannon had led the 2nd Infantry Division's Ghost Recon Platoon until he was felled in a gun battle in Ramadi. He liked the solitary work of a sniper; "Lone Wolf" was his call name. But he did not expect to be left alone by the Army after such serious surgery and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. He had appointments during his first two weeks as an outpatient, then nothing.
"I thought, 'Shouldn't they contact me?' " he said. "I didn't understand the paperwork. I'd start calling phone numbers, asking if I had appointments. I finally ran across someone who said: 'I'm your case manager. Where have you been?'
[...]
At town hall meetings, the soldiers of Building 18 keep pushing commanders to improve conditions. But some things have gotten worse. In December, a contracting dispute held up building repairs.
"I hate it," said Romero, who stays in his room all day. "There are cockroaches. The elevator doesn't work. The garage door doesn't work. Sometimes there's no heat, no water. . . . I told my platoon sergeant I want to leave. I told the town hall meeting. I talked to the doctors and medical staff. They just said you kind of got to get used to the outside world. . . . My platoon sergeant said, 'Suck it up!'
Please. please read it. Then pass it on as widely as you can, call your representative, and then keep calling.
Read Jaimie's Valentine's Day story at http://westofshockoe...
At one time, our local Democratic Committee was sending supplies to Walter Reed patients via our former chair who would often visit her college student son in the general vicinity of the hospital.
Recently we have been working in a similar way with the local Veteran's Administration Hospital, taking clothing, food, books, games and toiletries to their patients whenever possible. At that facility, I have a good friend who is a Vietnam War vet and a PhD psychologist who counsels returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and trains others in how to do so. I will forward this WP article to him and ask if he has any additional information about Walter Reed and/or about veterans' outpatient care in general.
Please keep up the good work, and thanks for informing us of this ongoing tragedy.
Steve
If ever I should have a doubt,
On what this war is all about,
I compare the deaths, without abatement,
To Halliburton's profit statement.
You know Kathy; she's our unofficial RK "Poet Laureate"...
Thanks again!
Steve
Thanks!
Steve
Right next to the story of how Senate Republicans blocked the Iraq resolution while claiming hollowly that they "support the troops.".
Ouch!
As Jim Webb said veryrecently, this administration is misusing our troops.
Steve
Congress has authority to prohibit federal funds for certain activities such as redeploying troops to Iraq, or for fraudulent contractors like Halliburton, while still allowing funds for protective gear and health care. They are just too wimpy to do it. We should DEMAND this.
To oppose this adminstration's lack of leadership in Iraq and to suggest different approaches to resolving our dilemma there is not to be equated with ignoring the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed hospital.
Both need to be resolved and, if leaders like Jim Webb can prevail, I am confident that each will be handled correctly.
Steve
Van Antwerp is one of thousands of wounded troops rushed from the war zone for health care and then stranded in administrative limbo. They are at the mercy of a medical evaluation system that's agonizingly slow, grossly understaffed and saddled with a growing backlog of cases. The wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are stuck in holding companies awaiting hearings and decisions on whether they will continue their military service or be discharged, and if so, at what level of benefits - if any.In 2001, 10 percent of soldiers going through the medical retirement process received permanent disability benefits. In 2005, with two wars raging, that percentage dropped to 3 percent, according to the Government Accountability Office. Reservists dropped from 16 percent to 5 percent.
Soldiers go to VA to try for more benefits, but the department had a staggering 400,000-case backup on new claims in fiscal 2006, according to VA.