TIME: How I lost my hand but found myself (Michael Weisskopf)

[LiberalHeart]

The story of how Michael coped with losing his hand when he threw that grenade out of the vehicle in Iraq (well-written and very interesting):

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1538592-1,00.html

[maddezmom]

1. good read, here's an article from 2003

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A58156-2003Dec11¬Found=true

[qanda]

2. That was an excellent article

Makes me want to get the book. Thanks for sharing.

[pnorman]

3. Thanks for that. I read it throughout in utter fascination.

Here's a telling excerpt:

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Before Iraq, the technology of arm prostheses hadn't changed much since World War II. The tiny population of amputees created little market incentive. Miguelez used the burst in demand from Walter Reed to lean on manufacturers for progress. Before long, he was outfitting Iraq war amputees with an electronic hand that opened and closed 2 1/2 times faster and could be programmed to function at different speeds and grip strength.
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"Before Iraq, the technology of arm prostheses hadn't changed much since World War II" ... I suppose Dubya can take justifiable pride in advancing the frontiers of prosthetic technology. Taka a bow, Little Lord Pissypants!

pnorman

[LiberalHeart]

4. Yes, that jumped out at me, too.

What a sad legacy the Iraq War is for Bush.