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Recovering from the wounds of war

Mar-19-2007 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

DEAN BAKER, The Columbian

John P. Kaiser lost his right eye, five lower teeth and a piece of his lower left jaw when a mortar shell ripped into his Stryker armored vehicle five months ago in Iraq. He also took a bullet through his upper right arm.

When a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee 17 months ago in Iraq, Brian Radke lost most of the use of his hands, suffered major brain and leg injuries, and lost part of his sense of taste and feeling in his jaw.

Yet both of the young Clark County soldiers -- wounded warriors who came home hurt -- say their medical treatment has been good to excellent at controversial Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. [...]

Kaiser, 28, spent only three days at Walter Reed after a 120 mm mortar shell exploded next to his Stryker armored vehicle within a stone's throw of the Baghdad airport on Oct. 16. The explosion ripped away his right eye and knocked out part of his lower left jaw and five of his lower teeth, but Kaiser was able to use a radio and call in helicopter strikes despite his wounds.

He's now undergoing therapy at Madigan Army Hospital at Fort Lewis, where he expects to have surgery to repair his eyelid so that the muscles will be strong enough to hold a prosthetic eye. Having received an Army settlement of $50,000 for his wounds, he and his wife, Tina, and their children, KaCee, 11, and Daniel, 7, have bought a house on Prune Hill in Camas. He's also working on paperwork to receive disability and educational benefits from the Army and transfer to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Tests show that Kaiser escaped with no traumatic brain impairment, and his post-traumatic stress symptoms are "in remission," he said. He no longer surveys the tops of all tall buildings for snipers or jumps at loud noises as he did when he first returned from the war zone, he said.

At Walter Reed, he said, the staff was overwhelmed by numbers of wounded, but still managed to take good care of him and rush his wife and father to his bedside.


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