Coming Home May Only Be the Beginning
While the days of being told to "return with your
shield or on it" may be over, the courage and honor of
our nation's service personnel remains. With that
bravery comes a cost, the inevitable wounds and injuries of an
armed conflict.
In this chapter, we will examine the signature
wounds of insurgent conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
We will look at where the medical care starts, 
with the incredible acts of the medics and
corpsman, and follow through to when the physical healing may have
occurred, but living with the residual and ongoing issues must
begin.
Not all service men and women return home wounded, injured or
otherwise disabled. We must remember that not every vet will
have PTSD or a brain injury. Stereotyping, generalizing and
categorizing can be misleading and harmful. That
being said, the nature of today's battlefield injuries require that
they be understood and the latest and best thinking be applied to
their accommodation and understanding.