How do soldiers deal with potientially losing their limbs on a daily basis?

Silent Runner

There's a lot of young men coming back from Afghanistan/Iraq with horrific injuries, coming back with no legs and arms missing. It's very sad to see young men with these injuries, how they'll never get to lead a normal life again. The movie "Born on the Fourth of Jully", I know it's just a movie but it really did drive home what it must be like coming home after being seriously injured. I think I'd rather die in the battle field than to come home with serious injuries to be honest.

Anyways how do serving soldiers or those hoping to join the armed forces deal with comming back seriously injured. Is it one of those things you worry about when you're at home and perhaps not as much when you are on duty. Or is it a thing that is treated like an occupational hazard or one of those things that could happen, but you love the job and continue on. Is the same way a cop goes out to work knowing that he/she could be shot/injured but continue to work because thay love their job.

Manic Moran

Generally speaking, you're more worried about getting killed than losing a limb.

NTM

OS119

i must admit that i worried more about being seriously disabled than i did about being killed - but i just got on with it.

i think the situation has changed to some degree, up till 6 or 7 years ago i think most of us saw people who lost limbs as being worse off than if they'd been killed, and that not only would they have to face being limbless, but that they'd be shoved somewhere dark and forgotton about. now however you meet limbless soldiers on a regular basis, they have either continued their careers - albeit in a different direction - or they've gone off and done something else and done it well.

its not all being skiing instructors or walking (hopping!) to the north pole, but i think that its not veiwed as being as 'serious' a problem as it was when i was much younger.

an indication of this that lots of people on foot patrol in Afghanistan today will be wearing loose torniquets around their legs in preperation for a major injury - they are more concerned about dying of bloodloss than they are of loosing a leg.

Fratton Fred

Why are there so many amputee injuries? Is it just a case of IEDs are typically at a low level, so the legs are vulnerable, or is it that body armour protects all the vital organs a lot better, so a soldier caught in a blast has a better chance of surviving, albeit minus the exposed parts of his body?

Manic Moran

More the latter, but also the medical training and support structures have improved so that soldiers who, say in Vietnam, would have died to blood loss as a result of the traumatic injury of an amputation are now able to survive to become amputated veterans instead of amputated dead guys.

NTM

Kosseegan

Anybody who cycles a bicycle on a public road risks losing their limbs.

xflyer

There's also the young man's sense that it will never happen to him. It will always happen to the other guy. They feel invulnerable. That allows young men to do all the dangerous things they are famous for, even without going to war.

Once that wears off from age or experience. They think twice about things like that. I used to ride a motorcycle like I would bounce like a rubber ball if I hit something. Looking back on it now, I was very lucky to survive. My 21 year old self would laugh at my caution.

krissovo

Having spent 8 years working in and around minefields for the most part you do not even think about the risks involved. What I found was that if the soldier thought that they were performing duties for the greater good then they were concentrating on the job in hand. If the task was considered pointless then they would dwell on this and starting thinking the worst and then they became a risk.

Bosnia was good example of this in the early 90's, troops felt hopeless with the situation and there were significant casualties to make them think twice. Once forces in Bosnia was under NATO control and the troops had power to influence the outcome them moral was high and it was never discussed.

The other way of dealing with it was banter between the troops, we used to make jokes of it and openly discuss the risks so it was kind of therapy. The military also supported soldiers who were injured very well, in most cases you kept your job although a desk job and these lads used to get loads of adventure training. One of my close friends recently was on the team of disabled soldiers who headed to the Arctic circle with Prince Harry. He unfortunately didnt make the final trip but he has led a positive life and gives encouragement to soldiers who are worried about injury.

I was "blown up" in a minefield in Bosnia, up until it happened I thought my drills would keep me safe and failing that the rather large bomb disposal suit I had on would keep me safe. Unfortunately the situation was out of my control and I became a victim and gained experience of the process. In the British Army I had the choice of a desk job or a medical discharge, I took the discharge and was retrained in IT and have not looked back since as my IT career is going well. I also have a war pension on top of my military half pension so financially I will be ok once I cannot continue to work.

Tonyandthewhale

Kosseegan wrote: »

Anybody who cycles a bicycle on a public road risks losing their limbs.

What? I'm pretty sure IED's are a bigger issue when it comes to losing a limb.

iceage

Dublin man....It's hell out there.;)

HellsAngel

Kosseegan wrote: »

Anybody who cycles a bicycle on a public road risks losing their limbs.

A bit off topic but since you brought it up, it almost entirely depends on how stupid the cyclist is :mad: I'd say that 100% of soldiers are more careful about what they do and don't believe that their's some obligation on them to be able to able to read someone else's mind like the dumb f***'s on bicycles expect the rest of society to do (including pedestrians on the pavement) :mad:

Foghladh

Rather than start a new thread, and I suppose it's kinda related, but what level of psychological assessment is carried out by the PDF or other regular armies regarding new recruits?

I've been reading Rick Atkinsons book Army at Dawn and he quoted a few numbers that kinda surprised me. Firstly that 12 % of all draftees were rejected as mentally unfit even with wartime requirements. Then that a total of 500,000 men were discharged from the US ground forces by wars end for psychiatric reasons. I believe about 4.5 million troops served as ground forces from what I can gather.

Does anybody know of more modern statistics regarding entry level refusals and subsequent combat discharges?

shaneybaby

Good show on BBC1 called "Bomb Squad" last night. Interviews and stuff with lots of amutees from IEDs. Felt slightly shameful sitting on the comfy couch i must say.

Losing a limb isn't what it used to be...for those who can pay for the fancy prosthetic limbs.

This place -Amputeenews.com- is a good place to start if you want to look up an amputee's lot.