[nfb-talk] Blind Soldiers Never Die, But Sometimes, You'd Never Know It

[Wm. Ritchhart]

Over all it was not to bad.  Although from some of the quotes, you
should be able to see that these guys have not been given much hope for
productive lives.  It is also clear that as a Nation we have sent these
people into harms way, and now that they need the help of the Nation, we
are failing them.  It's also pretty clear the author of the article does
not have much hope for them.  

This is the problem with most politicians.  They are always eager to
start wars.  However they almost always seem to have more important
things to do when the casualties start accumulating and need help. 


I guess my one very off-topic question is, where were all these
concerned Americans when the President and Congress sent these troops
off to war?  It's an easy answer.  They were in front of their
televisions, filled with blood lust for the whipping we were putting on
Sadom.  Now that we have obligations to the Iraqis and to the Americans
who have suffered loss, they just want the troops home so that they can
forget all about it.

I will shut up and get back on topic.

William
 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Milissa Garside
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 10:44 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Blind Soldiers Never Die, But Sometimes,You'd
Never Know It

Hello Ryan,

I'm not sure what is so bad about this article. Can you (or anyone else)

please elaborate?

Thanks.

Milissa

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RyanO" <pendulum12 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 8:50 AM
Subject: [nfb-talk] Blind Soldiers Never Die, But Sometimes,You'd Never
Know 
It


> These guys desperately need our help, folks. Some of the stuff in this
> article is pretty pukeworthy. I hope our new veteran's division can
swing
> into action on this one. These troops who defended our country deserve
a
> better life and better training than what they're getting now.
>
>
> Blinded by war: Injuries send troops into darkness -
> By
> Gregg Zoroya
> , USA TODAY
>
> ARLINGTON, Va. - Two days before a 10-mile race here, Army 1st Lt.
Ivan
> Castro is explaining how he will run tethered to another soldier - one
who
> can see.
>
> As he speaks, his wife lovingly extends her right hand to Castro's
face,
> fingers outstretched. But Evelyn Galvis pauses inches away.
>
> "I used to be able to reach out and touch him, caress him, without
telling
> him first, 'I'm going to touch your face,' " she says. Now, "if I just

> reach
> out and touch him, he'll startle."
>
> Castro, 40, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, is one of
more
> than 1,100 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan - 13% of all seriously
wounded
> casualties
> - to undergo surgery for damaged eyes. That is the highest percentage
for
> eye wounds in any major conflict dating to World War I, according to
> research
> published in the Survey of Ophthalmology.
>
> It's a reflection of how eye injuries have become one of the most
> devastating consequences of a war in which roadside bombs, mortars and
> grenades are the
> most commonly used weapons against U.S. troops. Brain injuries and
> amputations have long been the focus of the damage such weapons are
> inflicting, but
> the Army has acknowledged in recent weeks that serious eye wounds have
> accumulated at almost twice the rate as wounds requiring amputations.
>
> FIND MORE STORIES IN:
> Iraq |
> Army |
> Va |
> Castro |
> Department of Veterans Affairs |
> Airborne Division |
> Ophthalmology
>
> Body armor that protects vital organs and the skull is saving lives.
But
> troops' eyes and limbs remain particularly vulnerable to the blizzard
of
> shrapnel
> from such explosions.
>
> Each explosion unleashes large metal shards and thousands of
fragments, 
> says
> Army Col. Robert Mazzoli, an ophthalmological consultant to the Army 
> surgeon
> general. "Those small missiles are generally innocuous if they hit the
> (protected) forehead, face (or) chest but are devastating when they
hit 
> the
> eye,"
> he says.
>
> Surgical facilities are kept close to the fighting, so troops can be 
> treated
> in minutes. Partial or total vision has been restored in most cases
> involving
> eye injuries, military statistics show. But hundreds of troops have
been
> left with impaired vision, and dozens have been blinded.
>
> Troops in Iraq routinely wear protective eyewear, but it doesn't
always
> work. When a roadside bomb in Baghdad blew a hole through the heavily
> armored vehicle
> carrying Army Sgt. Luis Martinez last April, the force from the blast
> stripped off his helmet, headset and goggles. After the dust settled,
> Martinez, 38,
> could see nothing out of his left eye and only streaks of blood in his
> right. He waited for help, terrified about the damage to his eyes.
>
> "That was the first thing I asked" hospital personnel, the National
Guard
> soldier recalls. " 'Am I going to be blind?' "
>
> Surgeons later restored vision to his right eye, although bits of
glass 
> are
> embedded there. He remains blind in his left.
>
> "At least God was kind enough to protect me, to keep my right eye and
see 
> my
> family," says Martinez, of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, who is married and
the
> father
> of three.
>
> Formidable challenges await troops who return home blind or with
serious 
> eye
> injuries. In the most severe cases, they will struggle to cope
emotionally
> and financially.
>
> About 70% of all sensory perception is through vision, says R. Cameron
> VanRoekel, an Army major and staff optometrist at Walter Reed Army
Medical
> Center
> in Washington. As a result, the families of visually impaired soldiers
> wrestle with a contradiction: The wounded often have hard-driving
> personalities
> that have helped them succeed in the military. Now dependent on
others, 
> they
> find it difficult to accept help.
>
> Because the Pentagon has no rehabilitation services for the blind, the

> path
> to recovery often leads directly to the Department of Veterans
Affairs. 
> The
> VA operates 10 centers across the country for blind rehabilitation
that
> teach visually impaired veterans how to function in society. The
centers
> have 241
> beds, and it takes an average of nearly three months to get in. Iraq
and
> Afghanistan casualties go to the front of the line, says Stan Poel, VA
> director
> of rehabilitation services for the blind. So far, 53 have enrolled in
the
> blind rehabilitation programs, the VA says.
>
> The department plans to open three more centers beginning in 2010,
Poel
> says.
>
> 'He has no light in his life'
>
> Even now, more than a year after her husband's return from Iraq,
Connie
> Acosta is taken aback to find her home dark after sunset, the lights
off 
> as
> if no
> one is there.
>
> Then she finds him - sitting in a recliner in their Santa Fe Springs,
> Calif., house, listening to classic rock. Sgt. Maj. Jesse Acosta was 
> blinded
> in a
> mortar attack 22 months ago. He doesn't need the lights.
>
> That realization often makes Connie cry. "You kind of never get used
to 
> the
> fact that he really can't see," she says. "He has no light in his life
at
> all."
>
> The tiny piece of shrapnel that blinded Acosta, 50, an Army reservist,
> father of four and grandfather of three, was precise in its
destruction.
>
> On the morning of Jan. 16 last year, Acosta led soldiers on a 3-mile 
> fitness
> run across Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. Suddenly, insurgents attacked
the
> camp with mortars.
>
> Acosta remembers that he stopped, turned to yell at his soldiers and
then
> dived for cover.
>
> "Bam! That was it," he recalls. "Lights out."
>
> An explosion about 60 feet away sent a piece of shrapnel - perhaps
> three-quarters of an inch long - through his left eye. It struck his
brain
> and came out
> his right eye.
>
> "It was a perfect hit," Acosta says.
>
> Rushed to the Air Force Hospital at Anaconda, he spent seven hours in
> surgery. Army Maj. Raymond Cho, an ophthalmologist, removed Acosta's
right
> eye and
> carefully reassembled his left one.
>
> "I didn't want him waking up missing both eyes and wondering for the
rest 
> of
> his life, 'Gosh, could they have saved at least one?' " Cho says. "So
he
> knows
> that we did everything we could."
>
> Acosta regained consciousness as he was being returned to the USA. In
> Germany, a doctor told him that his right eye was gone and his left
eye,
> although
> stitched together, likely would never see light.
>
> "He said, 'You're going to have to start a whole new life from here
on,' "
> Acosta recalls.
>
> "I go, 'So I won't be able to see my kids? My grandkids? Nobody? I
won't 
> be
> able to see blue skies?'
>
> "He said, 'Nope.'
>
> "I just sat there. What could I do?
>
> "A lot of things went through my mind," Acosta says. "Am I going to be
> accepted this way? Am I going to be rejected? I was pretty independent
all
> my life,
> and I did everything. So it was pretty tough."
>
> VA plans more clinics
>
> Pentagon doctors can rebuild eyes, reconstruct eye sockets and nurse
> casualties back to health, but soldiers with serious vision problems
who
> want to learn
> how to adapt into civilian life must rely on VA centers that also
serve 
> the
> elderly and other veterans.
>
> The VA plans to invest $40 million this fiscal year to create 55 
> outpatient
> clinics across the nation, providing rehabilitation for veterans
learning 
> to
> cope with partial vision, says James Orcutt, the VA's director for
> ophthalmology.
>
> The department also is taking part in two clinical trials focusing on
> artificial vision, says Ronald Schuchard, director of the Atlanta VA
> rehabilitation
> research and development center. The trials involve implanting silicon

> chips
> in eyes. The chips act as receptors that can transform light into 
> electrical
> signals that can be transmitted to the brain. It is cutting-edge
research,
> Schuchard says.
>
> However, Orcutt says, "I think we're a long way from a practical use
of 
> some
> of these."
>
> At the VA's rehab centers for the blind, specialists teach orientation
and
> mobility skills. Visually impaired veterans learn to use a white cane,
> public
> transportation and perform daily routines. They also are offered
computer
> instruction and the use of special scanners for reading text. They are
> assessed
> and treated, if necessary, for psychological readjustment to their
sight
> loss.
>
> The VA does not provide guide dogs, but it helps link veterans with
> guide-dog schools that commonly provide a dog and training virtually
free 
> to
> veterans,
> Poel says.
>
> Iraq veterans sometimes find the VA blind rehab programs, which cater
> largely to elderly veterans, to be a poor fit for a younger
generation. 
> Army
> 1st Lt.
> Castro says he felt somewhat out of place during rehab at a VA
facility in
> Augusta, Ga.
>
> After the Army sent Jesse Acosta to a VA center for the blind in Palo 
> Alto,
> Calif., for rehabilitation in January 2006, he and his wife became
unhappy
> with
> the facility, describing it as having a "nursing home" atmosphere. It
is a
> five-hour drive from his home.
>
> "It did not fit my needs," Acosta says.
>
> He left the VA after a few months and was accepted, free of charge,
into 
> the
> Junior Blind of America rehab program near his home in Santa Fe
Springs.
> Last
> month, he completed training with his new guide dog at The Seeing Eye 
> school
> in Morristown, N.J., and now has Charlie, a German shepherd.
>
> All that is left, Acosta says, is figuring out the rest of his life.
>
> He has fought a medical discharge from the Army until his medical care
is
> complete. Ultimately, he will earn disability income for his wounds. 
> Acosta
> was
> an energy technician with Southern California Gas before he was called
to
> active duty.
>
> He is still with the company, though unpaid, and a different job
awaits
> him - one tailored to his disability, Connie Acosta says. It's unclear
> whether Jesse
> will want it, she says.
>
> "We're hoping for the best," she says. "He's the type that constantly
has 
> to
> be kept busy. We always have an agenda. I have a calendar going
constantly
> with things happening."
>
> It begins when they wake, and he wants to know the weather and the
color 
> of
> the sky, she says. Nothing in the house can be moved; he's memorized
the
> location
> of every chair and table.
>
> He has his routines and chores, including weightlifting in the
backyard or
> fiddling with the fuel pump on the 1969 Dodge Dart. (He fixed it.) 
> Daughter
> Brittany,
> 14, is mustered into duty to operate the computer for her father until
she
> pleads for a break.
>
> "Taking care of Jesse has been an experience," Connie Acosta says.
"He's a
> sergeant major in the Army, and they're tough people. He's a tough
person 
> to
> live with and then, worse, being blind.
>
> "Sometimes, he can be demanding. And I deal with it. I'm used to
making 
> sure
> that everything's in line. That he's got everything. And that's
basically
> all
> I've got to do."
>
> 'I want to feel productive'
>
> Castro thought he knew how his life would play out.
>
> A former Army Ranger who had worked his way out of the enlisted ranks
to
> earn an officer's commission, Castro commanded a scout reconnaissance
> platoon and
> dreamed of becoming a Special Forces team leader.
>
> Instead, the last thing he would ever see was the colorless expanse of
an
> Iraqi roof in Youssifiyah, Iraq.
>
> A mortar round landed a few feet away from him there on Sept. 2, 2006.
The
> blast killed two other soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and
sent
> shrapnel
> tearing into Castro's left side. The explosion damaged a shoulder,
broke 
> an
> arm, fractured facial bones and collapsed his lungs. Doctors amputated

> part
> of a finger.
>
> The blast also drove the frame of his protective eyewear into his
face. 
> When
> Castro regained consciousness days later at the National Naval Medical
> Center
> in Bethesda, Md., his wife, Evelyn, sat at his bedside. She told him
his
> right eye was gone, but doctors hoped to salvage vision in his left.
>
> The surgeons later removed one last piece of shrapnel from that eye.
When
> they took off his bandages and flashed a light for Castro to see, he 
> thought
> the
> eye was still covered. "That's when he told me, 'Ivan, you're not
going to
> be able to see again,' " Castro recalls. "I swore (it was like) I was
> standing
> between the World Trade Center and the two towers had just come down
on my
> shoulders."
>
>>From that moment on, through convalescence and rehabilitation, Castro 
>>would
> struggle to regain a measure of independence.
>
> Castro has become an advocate of rehabilitation funding for the blind,
> visiting members of Congress. After the 10-mile race in October, he
ran 
> the
> Marine
> Corps Marathon three weeks later, finishing in 4 hours and 14 minutes.
>
> He concedes that he needs his wife's help. Evelyn Galvis gave up her 
> career
> as a bilingual speech pathologist in Fayetteville, N.C., to help her
> husband.
> She supervises his medical care and drives him around.
>
> She guides him through crowds, keeping him aware of raised edges in
the
> walkway and steps. She reads his menu in restaurants and tells him
where 
> the
> food
> sits on the table. She watches him memorize his hotel room, starting
from
> the doorway and circling within the four walls to keep account of
beds, 
> the
> tables,
> the wastebasket, the bathroom.
>
> "My husband used to be a very independent individual," she says.
>
> Castro hopes to stay in the military.
>
> The Army has let several amputees stay in the ranks as well as one
blind
> captain, who will be an instructor at West Point Military Academy
after
> completing
> post-graduate education. Castro awaits word on his future; the
Pentagon
> won't comment on his situation.
>
> "There's a world in front of me I can't predict or envision because I
> haven't been there yet. I haven't lived this yet. I haven't lived
blind," 
> he
> says.
> "All I ask is to stay in the Army and finish out my years . I want to
feel
> productive."
>
> The only good news for now is when he sleeps, Castro says.
>
> "I've had dreams where I know I'm blind and, guess what? I've regained
my
> vision," he says. Reality floods back each morning.
>
> "There's not a night that I don't pray and ask God, when I wake up,
that I
> wake up seeing."
>
>
>
> RyanO
>
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