U.S. Wounded In Iraq, Afghanistan Includes More Than 1,500 Amputees

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/iraq-afghanistan-amputees_n_2089911.html


U.S. Wounded In Iraq, Afghanistan Includes More Than 1,500 Amputees
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Posted: 11/07/2012 5:38 pm EST Updated: 11/08/2012

According to new data released Wednesday, more than 1,500 Americans have lost a leg or arm in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, and hundreds have suffered the amputation of multiple limbs.

The Huffington Post reported Oct. 25 that the number of American battle wounded has passed 50,000, a grim milestone of more than a decade of war and a reminder of the war's enduring human cost. On Wednesday, the wounded toll stood at 50,159, according to Defense Department data.

Since 2001, when the war in Afghanistan was launched in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 5,225 American military personnel have been killed in action in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The casualty statistics only begin to suggest the suffering of the injured and of the families of those killed or injured. Because so many of the wounded are in their early 20s, they and their families face a lifetime during which the medical care required may be costly, intense and constant. Amputees, for example, must be fitted for new prosthetics every few years.