By: E&P Staff U.S troops who have done multiple tours of duty in Iraq are running the risk of developing severe long-term health problems, according to a story in Monday's edition of USA Today.
The paper profiled Staff Sgt. Kevin Dunne, who has been in contact with the paper since he and his unit were the subject of a 2003 profile. Dunne described an attack April 7 where he was unable to determine which direction sniper fire was coming from, and a colleague lost his life. "I had no idea," he wrote in an e-mail to USA TODAY. "I blame myself a lot for not being able to identify the threat simply because of the way I heard the shots."
"In the four months before the ... attack, the chief physician at Fort Hood, Texas, had warned that Dunne's hearing was so bad that he should be removed from combat duties. Others in the Army overruled him and sent Dunne back to Iraq for his third combat tour," says the story, written by Gregg Zoroya.
The article reports that one in four soldiers in serving in Iraq or Afghanistan have damaged hearing, according to the Pentagon. According to the RAND Corporation, one in five have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. Dunne, in addition to his hearing problems, suffers signs of PTSD as well as severe back problems, another common ailment in war zones.
Since 2003, the article reports 43,000 soldiers who were classified as medically unfit in the weeks prior to deployment were still sent to war, a practice which is currently under review by U.S. Central Command. "As much as I wanted to get out there ?, I'm seriously physically challenged by not being able to hear," Dunne wrote to USA Today. "The guys to my left and right don't deserve anything to happen to them because of my personal pride."
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