"Wounds of War"

This article from today's L.A. Times should be required reading of all registered voters. A tour of Walter Reed Army Hospital and some of the staff makes a sobering summary of the real Iraq war from an American perspective. Since the Bush government will not allow photo journalism of the facilities, this is the next best thing. Here are a few snippets:

As the U.S.-led coalition forces battle an increasingly fierce insurgency in Iraq, the military's medical system is waging its own war — and Walter Reed, its premier medical center, is in the thick of it. The world-renowned teaching and research hospital, which opened in 1909, has treated presidents and senators. Since World War I, Walter Reed has been a crucial, and often a long-term, stop for the most seriously wounded in war. Last week, more than a dozen survivors of the Chinook helicopter shot down by insurgents in Iraq Nov. 2 were carried in on stretchers. They entered a hospital transformed over the last seven months by the first big wave of combat casualties since the Vietnam War. Since April, when the first casualties began arriving, more than 1,875 have been treated at Walter Reed, an average of about 10 a day, 300 a month. On any given day during that time, the hospital has had about 50 inpatients and 180 outpatients from the war.

"The number is big to me now, bigger than anything I've seen since Vietnam," said Jim Mayer, 57, who lost both legs in that war and now volunteers at the hospital several days a week helping amputees. "When we see each other here, me and the other volunteers, our line to each other is, 'They just keep coming and coming.' " In Ward 57, orthopedic surgeons work day and night. In the physical therapy rooms, young men missing limbs lie side by side and head to toe on mats, lifting weights. Hospital staffers come in on their days off, bringing pizza to the wounded soldiers, taking those who are well enough out to the movies.

"I don't think this is going to go away," said Army Major Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, an obstetrician and gynecologist by training who is commander of the hospital. "Our people are pedaling as hard and fast as they can. We can do this for a long time. But at some point, if there's no letup, the casualty demand will have to start affecting what Walter Reed is."

The staff at Walter Reed, with responsibility for the majority of the seriously wounded, has tried to address potential problems before they arise. When they had trouble getting timely information from their counterparts in Germany on the number and type of casualties being flown to Walter Reed, it sent over its own nurse to report back. Meanwhile, doctors have been known to schedule the multiple surgeries of patients who have become friends on staggered schedules so the patient who is in better shape on a given day can console the other. "The whole hospital is on a war footing and emotionally involved," said Kiley, the commanding officer. "The broader challenge is how do you keep the battle tempo up for a long period of time." As casualties continue to mount in Iraq, the bulletin board at Walter Reed's physical therapy unit long ago ran out of room. "This is like 1%" of the Iraq casualties who passed through the hospital, said Hannah, one of the physical therapists. "If we had a picture of everyone, it would take up a whole wall."

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