As an OIF combat wounded above the knee amputee myself, I feel compelled to correct an error in accounting regarding the number of amputees that have come out of the conflict. Here are the actual numbers, as published in the President's Commission On Care For America's Returning Wounded Warriors Final Report -July 2007.
Number of deployments 2,200,000 Number of service members deployed 1,500,000 Air evacuated for illness or injuries 37,851 Wounded in action 28,000 Treated and returned to duty within 72 hours 23,270 Seriously injured (TSLGI recipients)7 3,082 Traumatic Brain Injuries 2,726 Amputations 644 Serious burns 598 Polytrauma 391 Spinal cord injuries 94 Blind 48
Number of deployments
I don't argue the severity of the injuries, nor the massive amounts of troops returning home with life altering injuries. But if we are to be the voice of reason, then we need to correctly list the numbers we quote.