Injured veterans are stuck in limbo

Injured veterans are stuck in limbo
No longer in war zone but also not 'home,' they battle for normal

James Janega

Tribune reporter

January 3, 2010


For Mitch Chapman, recovering from broken bones and a brain injury, the mission now is treating the pain and surviving the nightmares.

For Michael Brown, who suffers from a shoulder wound and post-traumatic stress disorder, it is controlling sudden outbursts.

For Casey Church, the muscles in his left buttocks and hip gone, it is learning to walk again.

Three months after the end of the Illinois National Guard's yearlong deployment in Afghanistan, these young men are among 108 wounded soldiers who returned ahead of nearly 2,900 uninjured comrades -- but who are still fighting their bit of the war.

The 40 who suffered the worst injuries remain hospitalized at a dozen facilities that include Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. The remainder, many suffering serious but less obvious wounds, shuttle back and forth to Veterans Affairs hospitals and rehabilitation clinics across Illinois.
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Injured veterans are stuck in limbo