This U.S. Navy SEAL Was Shot 27 Times And Is Now Training To Run A Half-Ironman To Raise Money For Fellow Veterans

The Telegraph: Meet the Navy SEAL who was shot 27 times and lived to tell the story

Eight years ago, Mike Day took multiple bullets to the legs, arms and abdomen while serving in Iraq. Now, he is training to run a half-Ironman to raise money for fellow veterans

A US Navy SEAL who was shot 27 times during one incident while on tour in Iraq has made such an exceptional recovery that he his now preparing to compete in a half-Ironman to raise money for his fellow veterans.

In 2007, Mike Day was caught in a brutal firefight with three al-Qaeda insurgents after he was the first of his team to enter a room in a town near near Fallujah, Iraq.

The enemy fighters opened fire, hitting Day with 27 separate bullets. 11 of the shots were stopped by his body armour, but 16 penetrated his body and left him perilously wounded.

Update: Ex-Navy SEAL who was shot 27 times to run Ironman for fellow vets -- FOX/Tribune

WNU Editor: Hearing and reading these incredible stories .... I am always left speechless.

A Look At What Happens To Those Who Get Wounded In Afghanistan

Mohammad Zaman, an Afghan local policeman who was wounded in Daikundi province, walks with his prosthetic legs at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) orthopaedic rehabilitation centre in Kabul August 26, 2014. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Special Report: Left To Fight Alone, Afghanistan Battles To Save Wounded -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Omar Gul was on duty at a remote police checkpoint in Helmand's restive district of Sangin when the station came under fire.

It was a warm night in mid-September and the battle between Afghanistan's government forces and Taliban militants had been simmering in the southern province all summer.

Around sunrise, Gul recalled, he was shot in the leg. For the next twelve hours he bled, and waited, and bled some more, until the fighting died down long enough for a colleague to hoist Gul onto his back and take him to get help.

In the end, it was not his employer – the government of Afghanistan – who saved his life. After carrying him out of the checkpoint, Gul’s colleagues drove him to a first-aid post run by an Italian NGO called Emergency, whose own ambulance ferried him to the group's hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's capital.

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My Comment: My father's biggest fear when he fought in World War II was not being killed ... it was to be severely wounded with crippling injuries. At the time Soviet medical facilities to help the wounded were inadequate to help such soldiers .... and the horror stories of what life would be like being a cripple made everyone shudder at such a prospect. I guess in today's Afghanistan .... these same fears exist.

A Story Of True Grit

Quadruple amputee U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills is interviewed at by a member of the media as a documentary, "Travis: a Soldier's Story" about his life after being wounded, is screened in the Capitol Visitors Center at the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Monday, Nov. 18, 2013. Mills is one of just five quadruple-amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive their injuries. He was injured from an IED (improvised explosive device) on April 10, 2012, while on patrol during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Veteran Who Lost Four Limbs To IED In Afghanistan Now Says: ‘I’m Just A Guy Living Life’ -- Washington Times

A U.S. veteran who lost all four of his limbs when he was hit by an improvised explosive device during one of his three tours in Afghanistan now says he’s “just a guy living life” — a humbling sentiment that captured even the attention of Mike Rowe, star of the TV show “Dirty Jobs.”

“He has a motto,” Mr. Rowe wrote on his Facebook page on Memorial Day, in honor of retired U.S. ArmyStaff Sgt. Travis Mills. “Never give up — never quit. He has a Foundation. He’s featured in a new documentary. He also has a wife and a kid and a deeply personal commitment to help other wounded vets cope with their injuries. But when I asked him why I hadn’t seen him in any of the typical commercials and PSAs for wounded veterans, his answer was stunning. He said he didn’t consider himself to be wounded. ‘I’m not a victim, Mike. And I refuse to be portrayed that way. Case closed.’ “

Still, Staff Sgt. Mills said his first reaction during his injury was to wave the battlefield medic away.

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My Comment: These stories always put everything into perspective for me. Complain as much as I do .... my life pales in comparison to people like Andrew Harnik.

This Is Not How Wounded U.S. Soldiers Should Be Treated

Insult To Injury: Wounded Warriors Snubbed At Walter Reed Dining Hall -- FOX News

In a disturbing revelation about the treatment of America's most severely wounded troops, Fox News has learned the military earlier this month decided to invalidate meal tickets and reduce hours for the sole dining facility in the Walter Reed building where they are recovering.

The decision affects the Warrior Cafe located inside building 62, home to all multiple amputees and long-term, recovering patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The decision would mean wounded warriors who would normally have a government-funded meal just down the hall would have to walk, wheel or limp nearly a half-mile across the Walter Reed campus to the temporary "food trailer" for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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My Comment: Outrageous. My blood is boiling.

Update: Hallelujah!!!! Someone came to their senses. Military reverses decision after suspending meal tickets, reducing hours at Walter Reed's warrior cafe.

New Technologies Bring Home Grievously Wounded Troops

An HH-60 Pavehawk helicopter hovers over the air strip at Bagram Air Field in eastern Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Lifelines: New Technologies Bring Home Grievously Wounded Troops -- US News and World Report

Family of wounded soldier able comfort son as he's flown home for treatment.

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Barry and Lorria Welch sit solemnly in the jump seats of the massive C-17 cargo plane. Their son, who joined the Army three years ago to pay off thousands of dollars in student debt from getting his associates degree, is strapped to a stretcher a few feet in front of them. He is in a medically induced coma with a ventilator tube regulating his breathing.

This most grievously wounded soldier involved in a fatal attack outside Kabul in late July returned to the U.S. this week, following two failed attempts to transport the blast victim for fear the flight would kill him.

The military flew his parents from their home in Salem, Ore., to this medical facility after he was wounded by an insurgent fighter who detonated an explosive-laden donkey next to a U.S. Army patrol. The Welches then accompanied their son for his return journey to Walter Reed Army hospital in Washington, his body riddled with shrapnel from the attack.

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My Comment: From MASH units during the Korean war to Afghanistan today .... new technologies have certainly changed how grievously wounded troops are taken care of.

A Message Of Support From U.S. Vets To The Victims Of The Boston Marathon Bombings

 

From CNN: CNN's Barbara Starr reports on a group of military veterans who as amputees have a message of support for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. They created a video to raise money for the Boston victims, survivors and their families.

How Our War Wounded Is Turning A Generation Of Young Wives Into Full Time Caregivers

Ashley Wise — Battling BARE. Facebook via Battling Bare

The Army Is Turning A Generation Of Young Wives Into Full Time Caregivers -- Business Insider

Army wives stepped forward Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference to explain the continued struggle they face in rehabilitating their spouses injured in war and the challenges that remain working with Warrior Transition Units.

The Army created Warrior Transition Units to assist in making the wounded warriors’ journey to their “new normal” as smooth and productive as possible.

The Army currently operates 29 WTUs across the country.

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My Comment: My heart goes out to these families, because I know what they are going through. My father was not injured in combat, but he did suffer a stroke that completely paralyzed his left side .... putting him into a chronic care facility. Everyday my mother would arrive in the morning and stay with him until after supper where I would then visit my dad and give my mom a lift back home. With the exception of my brother's marriage in California, she did this routine everyday for 7 years. And when my father finally passed away .... on that day I told my mom that she did her duty, she was now free, and she can now enjoy a new life .... which thankfully she has been doing for almost 8 years now. For many of these young wives .... that day may not come for decades.

The Story Of One Wounded Soldier's Journey

Nick Staback, who lost both of his legs to a bomb in Afghanistan, talks with his mother, Maria Staback, in Scranton, Pa. Maria Staback took a leave of absence from her job to move in with her son while he was recuperating at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington, D.C.. David Gilkey/NPR

Vet Walks On New Legs, With A Little Help From Mom -- NPR

On furlough from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center this summer, 21-year-old Nick Staback lounges on his parents' back porch in Scranton, Pa., taking potshots at sparrows with a replica sniper rifle. The long plastic gun fires pellets that mostly just scare the birds away.

It's been a tough year for Staback since his last foot patrol in Afghanistan.

"We [were] just channeling down a beaten trail, of course, you just don't know what's on it," he says. "We had the mine sweepers out front and everything like that."

The area was littered with homemade bombs and everyone knew it.

"I was kind of looking where I was going to step, make sure I was going to step in my buddy's footprint kind of thing," he says. "But I guess it was just the wrong time, the wrong place."

The bomb threw Staback high in the air; he landed on his back in a state of shock.

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My Comment: A moving story of one's soldier's 'journey' back to recovery.

Beware Of Charities For Disabled Vets

IRS Forms Show Charity's Money Isn't Going To Disabled Vets -- CNN

Birmingham, Alabama (CNN) -- A national charity that vows to help disabled veterans and their families has spent tens of millions on marketing services, all the while doling out massive amounts of candy, hand sanitizer bottles and many other unnecessary items to veteran aid groups, according to a CNN investigation.

The Disabled Veterans National Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., and founded in 2007, received about $55.9 million in donations since it began operations in 2007, according to publicly available IRS 990 forms.

Yet according to the DVNF's tax filings with the IRS, almost none of that money has wound up in the hands of American veterans.

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My Comment: My blood boils when I read stories like this one.

Lieutenant Dan Finds A New Role In Life

Disabled Troops Inspire Gary Sinise To Give Back -- 60 Minutes/CBS News

(CBS News) Actor Gary Sinise has spent decades performing on stage and screen, but he's probably best known for a single role: Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump. In the film, he portrays an Army officer who loses both legs in Vietnam, a character that made Sinise something of a patron saint to real-life amputees. Inspired by their heroism, Sinise co-founded the Lt. Dan Band to entertain U.S. troops and raise money for gravely wounded warriors. David Martin speaks with Sinise about his efforts, and with the veterans and their families whose lives he's changed.

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My Comment: An incredibly moving video.

Another Story Of True Grit

Quadruple Amputee Undergoes Surgery After Afghanistan Blast -- FOX News

An Army soldier who lost his arms and legs during his third tour in Afghanistan last week underwent surgery Monday as supporters from around the globe offer prayers and messages of hope on a family website.

Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, of Vassar, Mich., was injured when he stepped on an IED April 10 while serving with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is recuperating at a hospital in Germany and hopes to return stateside on Tuesday, three days after his 25th birthday, his father told FoxNews.com.

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My Comment: I am speechless.

David Wood Of The Huffington Post Wins A Pulitzer Prize For His 10 Part Series "Beyond The Battlefield"

Photo: David Wood

Huffington Post Awarded Pulitzer Prize -- Huffington Post

NEW YORK -- Huffington Post senior military correspondent David Wood has spent decades covering war, watching as wounded combat troops are loaded onto medical evacuation helicopters and, he said, "go off in a cloud of dust." But after their sacrifice on the battlefield, Wood said, "you never know what happened to them."

So for eight months this past year, Wood reported extensively on the lives of severely wounded veterans and their families in "Beyond the Battlefield", a 10-part series awarded Monday with the Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting. Wood's Pulitzer marks the first win for the seven-year-old Huffington Post and a milestone in the influential Pulitzer committee's recognition of online-only news organizations.

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My Comment: I have been reading David Wood's columns for years, and it is a joy to see him receive this recognition.

"Beyond The Battlefield" is what he is being recognized for, and it is a 10 part series that examines the lives of our wounded soldiers when they return home for treatment and recuperation. This is an excellent piece of work, and it can be viewed here.

Afghanistan's Wounded Struggle With Genital Injuries

Beyond The Battlefield: Afghanistan's Wounded Struggle With Genital Injuries -- Huffington Post

Before they went off to fight in Afghanistan, the guys of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines talked quietly about their deepest fear. Not dying. Not losing a leg or an arm.

It was having their genitals ripped off, burned away or crushed in the fiery blast of an improvised explosive device.

This was no idle concern to young men bursting with testosterone. The makeshift bombs known as IEDs are taking a frightening toll in Afghanistan, the blasts shearing off arms and legs, ripping through soft flesh, crushing organs and bone, and driving dirt, rocks and filth deep into torn flesh -- often leaving the genitals shredded or missing. Some guys said they'd rather be dead.

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My Comment: My father told me the same thing when I got him once to talk about his Second World War experiences .... his nightmare scenario was to lose a limb, his sight, or his genitals.

Operation Proper Exit: A Return To The War Zone

WNU Editor: Wounded American combat veterans return to Iraq to face their traumatic memories of the war, hoping this helps them move forward in their lives. Scott Pelley reports.

Taking Care Of Our Wounded Warriors

Photo: Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Dominguez, one of the patients at Naval Medical Center San Diego. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

After Severe War Injuries, A New Battlefield -- L.A. Times

Troops with severe war injuries such as multiple limb loss face a long and difficult rehabilitation. Naval Medical Center San Diego is where some learn a new way of life.

Reporting from San Diego — Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Dominguez has come a long way since October, when a roadside bomb in Afghanistan ripped off his legs above the knees and shredded his right arm above the elbow.

A Navy corpsman, part of the same patrol, kept Dominguez from bleeding to death and wisely refused his pleas for morphine, lest he go into shock. Then there was the Navy doctor at nearby Forward Operating Camp Dwyer who "wouldn't let me die" and the intensive care he received at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

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Update #1: Naval Medical Center San Diego steps forward for 'wounded warriors' -- L.A. Times
Update #2: Wounded warriors on the ballfield (Photo Gallery) -- Washington Post

My Comment: The above picture puts everything into perspective .... don't complain about all the difficult things in life .... others have it far worse.

War Amputations Rising Among U.S. Soldiers Wounded In War Zones

Report Reveals Steep Increase In War Amputations Last Fall -- Washington Post

The majority of American soldiers undergoing amputation for war wounds last fall lost more than one limb, according to data presented Tuesday to the Defense Health Board, a committee of experts that advises the Defense Department on medical matters.

Military officials had previously released data showing that amputations, and especially multiple-limb losses, increased last year. The information presented to the 20-member board is the first evidence that the steepest increase occurred over the last four months of the year.

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My Comment: This is a disturbing report on our soldiers who are injured and crippled by ieds.... read it all.

We Are Failing Our Wounded Veterans .... Again

Fabiene Uran of Bellevue, Washington, spends many hours taking care of her wounded soldier son Matthew Uran, who received a brain injury from an army helicopter crash in Kuwait. Peter Haley / Tacoma News Tribune / MCT

Families Of Severely Wounded Veterans Still Waiting For Help -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — Fabienne Uran quit her job after her son, Matthew, broke his neck and fractured his skull and pelvis in a helicopter crash in the Kuwaiti desert in 2005.

Now she takes care of the former pilot on a full-time basis. For her efforts, she figures she should get paid at least $600 a week by federal taxpayers.

"I'm modest about my expectations," said Uran, 60, of Bellevue, Wash.

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My Comment: I cannot even come close to imagining how difficult it must be for the families to take care of their loved ones .... everyday.

An Investigative Series On Wounded Soldiers

Wounded U.S. Army soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are moved for evacuation in Kamdesh, Afghanistan, after suffering shrapnel wounds to their eyes and foreheads in a fire fight with Islamic militants. Xinhuanet

Investigative Series on Wounded Warriors (Updated)-- Small Wars Journal

SWJ friend, Carl Prine, recently published an investigative series on wounded warriors for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Thousands of sick and wounded soldiers within the Army's Warrior Transition program aren't receiving psychological care they need and are being discharged into communities ill-prepared to help them. A nine-month investigation by the Tribune-Review, buttressed by documents passed to the newspaper by soldiers and the Pentagon's Office of Wounded Warrior Care & Transition Policy in Alexandria, Va., reveal an Army reeling from an epidemic of mental and behavioral health problems after nearly a decade of constant combat overseas.

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My Comment: An excellent series from the Small Wars Journal. Read it all.

We Are Failing Our Wounded Soldiers

Photo: Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Noel Koch

Documents Show Army's Disservice To Broken Soldiers -- Pittsburgh Tribune Review

WASHINGTON — The Army's special medical units should be healing more than 9,300 soldiers entrusted to their care.

But a nine-month probe by the Tribune-Review found America's sick and injured soldiers must struggle to mend inside 38 Warrior Transition units the Army has turned into dumping grounds for criminals, malingerers and dope addicts.

Originally designed to treat the wounded from twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, after nearly a decade of battle these barracks snag soldiers in red tape. Despite an epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, brain injuries and substance abuse linked to repeated combat deployments, soldiers sometimes spend years despera

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My Comment: A sobering article on what is the state of medical care for many of our soldiers. Read it all.

Hat Tip: Small Wars Journal

A Third Of Wounded U.S. Soldiers Are Addicted To Drugs

Photo: Traumatic: U.S. soldiers help a wounded comrade after they were struck by an IED in Afghanistan (file photo).

Up To 35% Of Wounded Soldiers Addicted To Drugs -- USA Today

Medical officials estimate that 25% to 35% of about 10,000 ailing soldiers assigned to special wounded-care companies or battalions are addicted or dependent on drugs — particularly prescription narcotic pain relievers, according to an Army inspector general's report made public Tuesday.

The report also found that these formations known as Warrior Transition Units — created after reports detailed poorly managed care at Walter Reed Army Hospital— have become costly way stations where ill, injured or wounded soldiers can wait more than a year for a medical discharge.

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More News On This Growing Addiction Problem

Report: 1/3 of warrior-unit soldiers addicted -- UPI
Problems in Army’s Trauma Units -- New York Times
Report: Many Wounded Army Soldiers Are Drug-Dependent -- Kasllink.com
Drug Addictions Affecting Wounded Soldiers -- EMaxHealth

My Comment: Only 35%? I expected the percentage to be much higher.