New Prosthetics Keep Amputee Soldiers on Active Duty
New Prosthetics Keep Amputee Soldiers on Active Duty | US News
Last night a doctor at the cigar lounge talked about a quadriplegic soldier going back on active duty recently, I just had to look it up.
Not the exact story above, but turns out it looks like it could be true.
His first patient while stationed in Japan was a soldier which stepped on a land mine in Vietnam back in 1967 or so (quadriplegic), he still thinks about him to this day.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/05/25/new-prosthetics-keep-amputee-soldiers-on-active-duty
Quote:
So for now, soldiers have to get by with existing prosthetics and try to perform as well as they did before the injury—which raises the question of whether it is fair to ask someone who has already given an arm or a leg for his or her country to keep fighting. Col. GI Wilson, a Marine Corps Iraq veteran, says that not only is it fair, it'd be unconscionable to keep these soldiers out of duty.
"Letting an amputee who can perform to standard serve makes more sense than asking them to be a victim and sent home," he says. "The amputees who want to serve want a paycheck, not a government disability check."
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