31,922 wounded in Iraq and 12,593 in Afghanistan

This should bring the point home.

With the Defense Department reporting 31,922 military members wounded in Iraq and 12,593 in Afghanistan since the start of combat operations as of July 14, plenty of veterans face dramatic changes in their physical abilities and limitations.

The rest of it does as well, but this fact of over 40,000 wounded screams for us to pay attention. We can just sit back, complain about the VA not doing enough and then we won't have to think about what we're not doing.

The DAV and other service organizations are doing what they can to help them feel more like themselves again even though they've changed. There are things they enjoyed doing before they were wounded, just like James Hackemer, want to do what they did before. He wanted to go onto a roller coaster and feel that rush again. Simple enough. At least it sounded that way, but it ended his life. There are ways they can enjoy things again, just not the same way they did before because frankly, they are not the way they were before.

With PTSD they can change in a positive way if they make peace with where they've been. It is the same for the physically wounded. Their lives are not over, just the life they used to have is, but there are few limits on what the next part of their lives can be like.

Coaster death shows risks of vets' thrill-seeking
By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Combat veterans are known to come home from war hungry for adrenaline, taking up things like motorcycle racing or sky diving to satisfy their cravings. And some who come home without arms or legs are simply determined to do the things they did before war redefined normal.

James Hackemer's family insists the father of two who lost both his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq was no thrill-seeker, but his fatal fall from a roller coaster highlights the challenge of balancing the desire for both excitement and normalcy with the reality of new disabilities.
"He just had a thirst for life and he just wanted to do as much as possible," the 29-year-old Army sergeant's sister, Jody Hackemer, said following her brother's death at Darien Lake Theme Park & Resort in upstate New York last week.

In fact, riding a roller coaster can be a good way for veterans to feel the rush they so crave after living in a hypervigilant state while in a war zone, far better than driving too fast or abusing drugs or alcohol, according to experts who say those high-risk behaviors are all too common. An Army report last July noted a rise in risky behavior among soldiers, attributing it partly to the ramped-up tempo of military life and faster deployments.
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Coaster death shows risks of vets thrill-seeking