Red, White, and (Black and) Blue

As of last week, there are 11,285 more disabled Americans than there were just four years ago. Why? Because brave men and women - men and women born strong and healthy - willingly put themselves into harms way and fought with their lives in the War on Terror.

Time Magazine has done a cover article on the wounded soldiers in their latest edition.

Every war mutilates in its own way, leaves its distinctive marks. In this war, unlike battles past, only 16% of injuries were caused by gunshots, according to a study; 69% were from explosions--the roadside booby traps, the car bombs, the rocket-propelled grenades. The vast majority of injuries are to arms and legs left vulnerable even as body armor is protecting vital organs. The amputation rate of 6% of wounded soldiers is twice that of earlier wars. But in addition, doctors are seeing new injuries, some of them inconspicuous compared with the shredded flesh of bombing victims. Traumatic brain injury occurs when the shock from an explosion damages neurological fibers. Soldiers may survive a blast with scarcely a cut, only to find over time that they suffer coordination and memory loss, dizziness, insomnia. Some have to learn to walk again--or to recognize their wives and children.

Please keep the wounded American and Iraqi soldiers and their families in your prayers.