Disabled soldier returning to war, facing ‘stop loss’

Breeze54

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Fri Jun-20-08 05:38 PM
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Disabled soldier returning to war, facing ‘stop loss’ - ORDERED BACK TO IRAQ!!!!!!

Edited on Fri Jun-20-08 05:41 PM by Breeze54

:grr:

http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2008/06/20/opinion/doc485bdbf47a92c055004232.txt

By Tom Philpott

One day last August, while manning the .50-caliber gun atop his a Humvee on a dirt road in northern Iraq, Army Spc. Daniel "Joey" Haun suddenly lost consciousness. His vehicle had struck a buried bomb, an "improvised explosive device." Haun was ejected, his vehicle flipped over.

On impact with the ground, Haun's left hand was driven up toward his forearm, crushing his wrist. The surgeon who rebuilt the wrist, using a metal plate and screws, told Haun last year that his infantry days were over.

The blast also blew out Haun's right ear drum, which required surgery to partially restore his hearing. That surgeon warned him to avoid sustained exposure to any loud noises or risk having to wear a hearing aid.

As to head injuries, a neurologist diagnosed the 24-year-old with post concussive syndrome and mild traumatic brain injury, the likely cause of his daily headaches since the attack. Finally, a psychologist urged Haun to get counseling for his post-traumatic stress symptoms or they could devolve into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a more debilitating condition. So while recuperating in a wounded warrior unit at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Haun regularly saw a psychologist. He takes the drug Tramadol for his migraine headaches and Elavil, an anti-depressant, to ease his stress.

Adding to Haun's stress is this surprising news: he's returning to Iraq.

Though Haun expected to be separated or retired on disability, Army doctors have cleared him for transfer back to his infantry unit, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division. Rather than appearing before a medical evaluation board, Haun will rejoin 3rd Brigade which is to redeploy this fall to Iraq after only a year back home. Also, because Haun's 39-month enlistment doesn't end until January, Haun will have to stay in Iraq under a "stop loss" order. His active service time will be involuntarily extended by at least nine months.

Haun doesn't sound angry or bitter describing his predicament. But he doesn't understanding why the Army wants to keep him. He tells anyone who asks that he would prefer to leave service in January. Yet when he was told of his transfer back to the 2-27, Haun asked that he not be restricted to "pushing paper" in Iraq with the company's headquarters element. So his first sergeant agreed he could return to his platoon, Haun said.

How will he perform there? Haun isn't sure.

"I can't do push ups because I can't bend my hand that way. I can't climb rope. I can't do pull ups. I don't have any strength in my hand," Haun said. "I can't really carry anything that's heavy with my left hand because there's always the possibility of popping some screw loose."

His father, Earl Haun of Crestview, Fla., suggested there's a screw loose already -- with any Army policy that allows redeployment of soldiers obviously not fit for duty. His son is just one of many, Earl Haun said, and it's time somebody called the Army on it.

A Government Accountability Office report in May cited inconsistencies in Defense Department instructions on pre-deployment health assessments.

"During our site visits to three installations," said the GAO, "we found that health care providers were unaware that a medical record review was required, and medical records were not always reviewed by providers conducting the pre-deployment health assessment."

Earl Haun said something sure is wrong.

"He got blown out of a Humvee about 25 feet in the air, his commander told me. He crushed his arm. He's only got 30 or 40 percent use of it. And his first surgeon told him he was done," said Earl, an Air Force veteran who repaired aircraft during the Vietnam era. "Now, all of a sudden, some new surgeon comes in, says 'Hey, you're deployable again.' ... That's kind of stupid. They're sending a kid back over there who's half a man," at least half an infantryman, Earl said.

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