where HAVE they all gone?

i was thinking

driving
into work
this morning

where are
they hiding
all the wounded
of this war???

see, i
was
in high school
and college
during vietnam

and i remember
the wounded
limb-less
blank-staring
walking corpses
created in that
war

you'd see them
everywhere
at the grocery store
on campus
shit, even
walking or
wheeling-chairs
down the
city streets

so am i missing
something here?

does
any else
see
them?

where HAVE all the flowers gone?

***

and now for something completely different : Kleercut

***

11 comments:

Peacechick Mary said...

The majority of wounded come from small towns and rural areas. I did meet one homeless man who was applying for assistance and said he had been in Iraq. I don't know for sure, tho if he was. We had a lot more wounded from Viet Nam than we have now, but I'm sure this will grow if we can't stop the war mongers.

azgoddess said...

actually we have 3-4 times more walking wounded with this iraq war than we did with vietnam....advances in medicine and all....

so where are they people?

John Good said...

AZ - They're being hidden in non-descript rundown buildings full of mold and rodents, adjacent to our army medical centers. Or so I've heard. . .

BBC said...

Don't worry, they will start showing up in good time. It takes a while is all.

And supporting them for the rest of their lives is going to be very, very expensive.

They have to stop fighting the neocons and capitalists wars for them because you are the ones that will end up supporting them, the rich damn sure won't.

The rich buys yachts and mansions and stick the suckers with the tab.

nunya said...

I saw two last week in San Diego. It's warm enough to wear shorts and the prosthetic legs are keeping more of them out of wheelchairs.

Donnie McDaniel said...

They are out there, but the wingnuts have them believing they will be spit on. Freaking monsters!

M. Shahin said...

They are here, but many are disabled. I heard more are disabled with this war than Vietnam because of better armor protection that doesn't kill them but costs them their limbs. Many of them have returned to find no jobs, low healthcare, and some are begging on the streets. What a way to treat people who just fought for our country! The scary thing to think about is how many soldiers have truly died in this war. I don't believe the figures we are being given. If this war ever ends, I'm sure will find out that it was much more. Why else would they need to send in more and more troops, if a lot were not being killed.

Dada said...

az: I found one, I found one! In this morning's local paper was the story of a local HS grad last May. He'd planned to go to college, but decided to do the youthful, "heroic" thing first.

In HS, he was a talented basketball player. That will be more challenging now. Now that he'll be playing in a wheelchair league (if he can find one), since both of his legs were amputated above his knees.

Of course, like so many, he never knew what hit him and his buddies in the Humvee, but then that's the kind of war this is...getting your life snuffed out, your brain or other organs permanently damaged or your limbs blown off from an IED or RPG.

Nothing much heroic about that but, sadly, if you're lucky, the aftereffects last a lifetime. (Or if not so lucky, a deathtime.)

I should add, this is in addition to four you weren't so "lucky" last weekend from El Paso when they all bit the dust.

And how many more will die between now and next Aug 31 if demos get their way (they won't). Conservatively--at 60/mo. for 17 mos.--oh, another 1,000 or more--for what? For NOTHING!

Of course, Bush wil veto the dem's great exit strategy (funding another 17-18 mos. of the same bullshit). And how many will die from Bush (who still holds the all the cards apparently)?

This should make for more entertaining wheelchair basketball leagues (if they're not blinded).

Sorry if I'm a tad upset today.

Pam said...

Exactly what Case said. Unless you see them locally, the for sale MSM sure ain't going to show them. although I have seen some photos on the blogs of some disfigurements due to burns.

Aaron A. said...

On Campus, the handicap spots are now always full. I doubt it's due to the increased recruitment at extreme wheelchair sporting events or because of local farm accidents.

The funny thing is, however, for my commencement speaker they had a very young veteran (with all limbs) talk about how he takes his schoolwork so much more seriously now that has had the discipline of serving his country.

Yes, the real story of many veterans isn’t getting out there.

Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

Jesus! Of course I see them! They are getting the finest medical care known to man! Anyone with half a brain knows that! They are America's soldiers of fortune! Not their own, but fortunes none the less.
And now if you'll excuse me I have to run out in front of an oncoming train.