U.S. Soldier Injuries in Afghanistan Spike

Far from winding down, the numbers of wounded U.S. soldiers coming home have continued to swell. The problem is especially acute among those who fought in Afghanistan, where nearly four times as many troops were injured in October as a year ago.

Amputations, burns, brain injuries and shrapnel wounds proliferate in Afghanistan, due mostly to crude, increasingly potent improvised bombs targeting U.S. forces. Others are hit by snipers' bullets or mortar rounds. See pictures of the U.S. Army Reserve.

With Veterans Day on Wednesday, wounded veterans from the recent conflicts consider the toll of these injuries, and the rough road ahead for the injured. Of particular concern are the so-called hidden wounds, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder that can have side effects such as irritability and depression.

Since 2007, more than 70,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury — more than 20,000 of them this year, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. Most of the injuries are mild but leave symptoms such as headaches and difficulty concentrating.

Vince Short, 42, a former Army specialist who suffered brain injuries in a 2003 roadside bomb attack in Iraq, said he can't help but feel for the soldiers coming home from Afghanistan with similar wounds. "I cry out for them. It's tough. It's hard to put it in words," Short, who served with the District of Columbia Army National Guard, said in an interview at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, where he receives weekly physical and mental therapy. See pictures of the U.S. Marines new offensive in Afghanistan.

Thanks to the therapy, he said, he's in a good place. But in the early years of his recovery, he said, he found it difficult to return to work, and his marriage fell apart. Short said he was confident and motivated before he was injured. Now, he has memory problems and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. "At that point, there was still a lot of panicking going on inside of me because it's like, 'What's going to happen to me?'" said Short. "I used to have a career. I used to have a good solid marriage. I was doing really good, and now look at me."

In Afghanistan, spinal injuries have increased significantly, due mostly to the powerful explosives used in the improvised bombs that rattle U.S. troops inside heavily armored vehicles. For those injured by these bombs, recovery can mean a year or more at a military medical hospital like Walter Reed Army Medical Center, followed by months, years or even a lifetime of therapy and coping with disability.

At least 1,800 troops were wounded in Afghanistan in the first 10 months of this year, about 40 percent of all the wounded U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Nearly 1,000 of those injuries occurred in the last three months. In Iraq, more than 600 troops have been wounded so far this year.

Dr. Joel Scholten, associate chief of staff of rehab services at the VA Medical Center in Washington, said experts are keeping an eye on injury patterns in the war zones so medical treatments can be adjusted as necessary.

"When the war's over, the veterans will still have issues related to service that we'll need to be here for them," Scholten said.

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