why that was nice

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

By Dana Priest and Anne Hull

Washington Post Staff Writers

Sunday, February 18, 2007; Page A01

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.

This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss. But the old lodge, just outside the gates of the hospital and five miles up the road from the White House, has housed hundreds of maimed soldiers recuperating from injuries suffered in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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. Almost 700 of them -- the majority soldiers, with some Marines -- have been released from hospital beds but still need treatment or are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty.

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.

Not all of the quarters are as bleak as Duncan's, but the despair of Building 18 symbolizes a larger problem in Walter Reed's treatment of the wounded, according to dozens of soldiers, family members, veterans aid groups, and current and former Walter Reed staff members interviewed by two Washington Post reporters, who spent more than four months visiting the outpatient world without the knowledge or permission of Walter Reed officials. Many agreed to be quoted by name; others said they feared Army retribution if they complained publicly.

While the hospital is a place of scrubbed-down order and daily miracles, with medical advances saving more soldiers than ever, the outpatients in the Other Walter Reed encounter a messy bureaucratic battlefield nearly as chaotic as the real battlefields they faced overseas.

On the worst days, soldiers say they feel like they are living a chapter of "Catch-22." The wounded manage other wounded. Soldiers dealing with psychological disorders of their own have been put in charge of others at risk of *******.

Disengaged clerks, unqualified platoon sergeants and overworked case managers fumble with simple needs: feeding soldiers' families who are close to poverty, replacing a uniform ripped off by medics in the desert sand or helping a brain-damaged soldier remember his next appointment.

"We've done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it," said Marine Sgt. Ryan Groves, 26, an amputee who lived at Walter Reed for 16 months. "We don't know what to do. The people who are supposed to know don't have the answers. It's a nonstop process of stalling."

Soldiers, family members, volunteers and caregivers who have tried to fix the system say each mishap seems trivial by itself, but the cumulative effect wears down the spirits of the wounded and can stall their recovery.

"It creates resentment and disenfranchisement," said Joe Wilson, a clinical social worker at Walter Reed. "These soldiers will withdraw and stay in their rooms. They will actively avoid the very treatment and services that are meant to be helpful."

Danny Soto, a national service officer for Disabled American Veterans who helps dozens of wounded service members each week at Walter Reed, said soldiers "get awesome medical care and their lives are being saved," but, "Then they get into the administrative part of it and they are like, 'You saved me for what?' The soldiers feel like they are not getting proper respect. This leads to anger."

only a small part of the entire article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

That sucks in about the largest way possible. I wonder if the article had pics of the building. Maybe Bush could send Cheney over to check it out for us.

 

[Rmsanger 10+ year member]

About **** time... everyone should pull out so we have only ourselves to blame when things turn shittier in 08... 100% of casualties will be Americans rather than the itish...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif Cry me a fuggin river..

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

That sucks in about the largest way possible. I wonder if the article had pics of the building. Maybe Bush could send Cheney over to check it out for us.

yeah i saw some footage of the place on hardball.

The administration wants to talk about patriotism, yet fuks soldiers in the *** (no lube) if they come home hurt.

 

[iagrdshaka 5,000+ posts]

that means more of our taxpaying dollars will be wasted on that pointless country //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[BoomBoomBoy 10+ year member]

Thank you Mr. Bush you are a my hero.

Quit being a disloyal American!@@%^%$^*&*%//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/mad.gif.c18f003ab0ef8a0d9c27ca78d77a6392.gif

 

[crunktimes.com 5,000+ posts]

My favorite part of this whole thing is when the White House today said the withdrawal was a 'sign of success!!!!' haha thats classic.

I am not for or really against the war but I thought that comeback from them was classic!

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

My favorite part of this whole thing is when the White House today said the withdrawal was a 'sign of success!!!!' haha thats classic.
I am not for or really against the war but I thought that comeback from them was classic!

you have entered the no spin zone.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

i thought it was the pre-spun zone

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

lol he said pull out

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

no wonder they are pulling out

By Jeffrey Stinson, USA TODAY

LONDON — Britain's Prince Harry, third in line to the throne, will be sent to Iraq, the Ministry of Defense said Thursday.

Harry, 22, an army second lieutenant known as Troop Commander Wales, will lead 12 men from his Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry in four reconnaissance vehicles, the ministry said in a statement.

ON DEADLINE: SAS to guard Harry in Iraq

The regiment is expected to be sent in the spring, likely to the Basra area of southern Iraq, where 7,100 British troops currently are deployed, as part of a rotation of several army units.

The orders raise the possibility that Harry could become the first member of the British royal family to see combat since his uncle, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, served as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot in the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982.

The Defense ministry said that the decision to send Harry's unit was made in conjunction with the general chief of staff, Harry's commanding officer and the royal household.

Harry, who graduated from Britain's military academy Sandhurst last year, told reporters in September 2005 that he wasn't preparing for a career in the military if he couldn't be sent to combat zones.

"There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country," Harry said.

Harry is the second son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris Aug. 31, 1997. He is third in line to the British throne behind his father and older brother, Prince William, 24. William also is a member of the Blues and Royals. Because he is likely to be king during his lifetime, tradition is he won't be called to action like Harry.

Announcement of Harry's deployment comes a day after Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Britain would pull out 1,600 of its troops out of Iraq in coming months and likely reduce the force more.

The move was possible, Blair said, because the Iraqi army is now sufficiently trained to assume regular patrol duties in the Basra region, which is less dangerous than the Baghdad area father north where U.S. troops seek to maintain order.

British troops now will serve in a support role to the Iraqi army and police in the Basra region, Blair said.

However, Basra does remain "dangerous," Blair acknowledged. And there has been concern that Harry's deployment would make him and his regiment a target in the eyes of terrorists there.

"Speculation about precisely where (Harry) will serve, or the exact details of his role, is potentially dangerous," the Defense ministry and his father's office at Clarence House said in a joint statement. As a result, they did not disclose exactly how and where Harry would serve and asked the media to respect that as a matter of "operational security."

The statement did say, however, that Harry would "undertake a normal tour of duty."

British defense expert, Eric Grove said that Harry should serve in a regular fashion. To be held back from normal operational duty would hurt the morale of the rest of the prince's regiment, he said.

Grove, director of the Center for International Security and War Studies at the University of Salford in Manchester, said that the British royal family has a tradition of serving in the military and that the British public expects them to serve as their comrades would.

"There is a tradition of the people (from the royal family) who serve in the armed forces of not being protected too much," Grove said. "The Royal Family believes people are expected to do their duty."

Prince Andrew was not protected from danger and flew regular reconnaissance missions like other pilots during the Falklands war, he said.

Harry's father was a pilot with the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, and a ship commander. His grandfather, Prince Philip, had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during World War II. Even his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, was trained as a military driver during World War II. His great-grandfather, King George VI, saw action in World War I.

Grove acknowledged that the situation for Harry could have been different were he second in line the throne, like William.

Harry has shed much of his reputation as a wild child during his teenage years.

In 2002, the prince was caught smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol underage. In 2004, he was involved in a fight with paparazzi. In 2005, he caused an international uproar when he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform at a costume party two weeks before Queen Elizabeth was to attend a Holocaust memorial. He publicly apologized for it.

In the last year, however, he has avoided public scrapes, although he has been photographed partying in London clubs, often with his army buddies.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-22-prince-harry-iraq_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA

 

[psych0ticnemes1 5,000+ posts]

Quit being a disloyal American!@@%^%$^*&*%//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/mad.gif.c18f003ab0ef8a0d9c27ca78d77a6392.gif

Hmm... being disloyal to your country involves more than disliking your president... It is a right as a United States citizen to hate any government official, as well as protest against any decision the government makes.

If everyone was loyal, we would still be a colony of England. Patriots defend the country, they don't necessarily agree with everything the government does. This isn't communism.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

so what exactly does the royal family do?

seriously.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

I did not realize until reading that article that Harry had put himself through military school. I wonder how he did that exactly. Bet he worked down to the Wal Mart after class.