34 U.S. Service Members Diagnosed With Traumatic Brain Injuries After Iran Strike
Half of them have returned to duty.
The Pentagon revealed today that 34 U.S. service members have traumatic brain injuries caused by the Iranian attack on an Iraqi military base earlier this month.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said that half of the members have returned back to duty, but seventeen remain “under medical investigation.”
From The Associated Press:
Hoffman’s disclosure that 34 had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, or TBI, was the first update on the number injured in Iran’s missile attack on Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq since the Pentagon said on Jan. 17 that 11 service members had been flown out of Iraq with concussion-like symptoms. Days later, officials said more had been sent out of Iraq for further diagnosis and treatment, but the Pentagon did not provide firm figures on the total or say whether any had been returned to duty.
Hoffman said that of the 34 with TBI, 18 were evacuated from Iraq to U.S. medical facilities in Germany and Kuwait, and 16 stayed in Iraq. Seventeen of the 18 evacuees were sent to Germany, and nine remain there; the other eight have been transported to the United States for continued observation or treatment.
The one American sent to Kuwait has since returned to duty. All 16 of those who were diagnosed with TBI and remained in Iraq have since returned to duty, Hoffman said.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has tasked the department’s acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness Matthew Donovan to work with “the Joint Chiefs to review how military injuries are tracked and reported — not just TBI cases but battlefield injuries of all kinds, Hoffman told reporters.”
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Comments
But Trump said no one was hurt… Must be more FAKE NEWS!
Concussions are difficult to diagnose and are typically not immediately determined. Nobody killed or bleeding is always the initial determination for injury – concussions come later. Iran knows they are on thin ice. I expect if they attack again, the response will be debilitating.
Fair point. And it doesn’t help the ‘TBI’ seems to have such a broad range of effects, including mild concussions. Perhaps it was the soldiers with mild concussions that Trump referred to as having ‘headaches’ and ‘other stuff’. I wonder how severe the worst cases turned out to be.
Or maybe that was the info the military had at the time. Maybe the traumatic brain injuries were not diagnosed for 7-10 days. Maybe, just maybe you wouldn’t point blame if this had occurred under the Obama presidency, or the Hillary Clinton presidency. SHE LOST. Get over it.
Dude. I am so over it. I am not an Obama flack, and am glad Hillary is not president.
But Trump is not infallible, and it is fair to criticism him as well as any other president.
So… Trump is a lying narcissist, and can not ever be believed without corroboration. Get over it.
Who you gonna’ believe? Trump or CBS?
Tough call…
We should go to war with Iran to avenge these men that got concussions!
Yes, so we will have even more of our brave soldiers having traumatic brain injuries because of Trump’s endless wars. Good plan.
Wrong kind of war.
This needs a harsh response, kick the F out of them. Why have we been putting up with this shit hole of a country since 1979?
Start destroying their hydroelectric and reservoirs. Start taking out the leaders, with no consideration for collateral damage. Such damage is part of what brings wars to an end.
Yes, but let us do it in accordance with our constitution. If war is to be declared on Iran, it needs to be declared by Congress.
The constitution… you know, that document Trump swore to defend and protect?
Poor coolway, ragspierre junior. Just gets no respect.
And deserves none. Human filth. Deranged. Point to the doll and tell us where the bad orange man touched you.
You truly are the mookiest of mooks. I don’t know why I get under your skin so much, but I really don’t care either. Have a very blessed Sunday!
I wish they — DoD and Admin– would not do this s**t. Come straight out and say it like it is. The adults in the audience can handle it. Never mind what the Dems and Never-Trump crowd thinks.
know several old red legs guys and many of them have sustained ” concussion ” injuries just from firing their weapons–these types of injuries are not uncommon in the military–difficult to diagnose immediately as most folks are just stunned or knocked-out by the explosion/blast from whatever ordnance involved–takes days, sometimes weeks for symptoms to appear
Very sad. I hope they haven’t suffered diminished capacity and they get well very, very soon.
Maybe we should nuke their capital, and then claim it was an accident?
Or maybe we should do just what Trump’s doing, letting them know no to trifle with us and squeezing them economically and diplomatically but unnecessarily precipitating open conflict. That latter would result in unnecessary American casualties and embittered Iranian civilians toward America. At present, a substantial cohort of Iranians are more sympathetic to us than the mullahs.
NOT unnecessarily precipitating conflict
We need to respond up the chain of command from the last strike. Kill the tyrants.
There’s getting your bell rung in a JV football game. And there’s never being competent again. Where are these guys?