Never Leave a Fallen Comrade
by Roxana Alessio
During Operation Iraqi Freedom, there was an incident in which three soldiers were part of a convoy that was ambushed.
Luckily, once the soldiers started returning fire the insurgents ran away. The first vehicle with the three soldiers in it received the most fire. The recovery picked up two soldiers that were injured in the first vehicle and they and the rest of the convoy moved out to seek medical aid.
The vehicle that had been hit was left behind, and along with it, casualty number three was forgotten. He had been shot twice in the back with an AK-47, all he could do was lay under the vehicle and wait for the soldiers to come back for him. Twenty minutes later the soldiers realized that they were missing someone and went back to pick him up.
These soldiers let him down when he needed them the most. They forgot the most important line in the Soldier’s Creed, which reads, “I will never leave a fallen comrade”. This soldier’s physical injury will heal some day, but will the psychological injury ever heal?
As cruel as this story sounds, it is being repeated time and time again, not in the battlefield but here in our country. Thousand of veterans are being left behind by the Veteran’s Services.
One of the soldiers told Washington Post that he was neglected when he arrived at Walter Reed hospital. He was given a map and was told to find his way around the hospital to his room even though, he was in no condition to do it, since he was still suffering disorientation after having his eye and skull shattered by an AK-47 round.
He was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for which he was treated for two weeks and then didn’t hear from the hospital for a while. After weeks of searching he finally found his case manager who should have been the one looking for him in the first place.
Unfortunately, not all veterans can endure this and end up just going home before their treatment is done. This is due to the stress and lack of respect they face at the hospitals, the poor and unhealthy living conditions at the hospitals, and the problems and confusion caused by lost paperwork.
These soldiers who one day left their families and comfort of their home to go and put their life on the line to protect our freedom and who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect are not experiencing any of it. They should be able to receive the medical attention they need to treat the injuries, which by the way, they endured while defending the American way of life.
At the White House, press secretary Tony Snow said that he spoke with President Bush on February 20, 2007 about Walter Reed and that the president told him: "Find out what the problem is and fix it."
So my question is, how long will it take for these Veteran’s Services to realize their mistake and to go back and pick up the soldiers and veterans they have left behind? Obviously, the damage is already done, but they can make it better by giving those veterans the attention they need, and by not ever leaving another fallen comrade.
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Fall 2007
Number Two