By David Zucchino in the Los Angeles Times:

Marine Corporal Garrett Jones is back on combat duty in Afghanistan, a little more than a year after a roadside bomb cost him his left leg in Iraq. He uses a prosthetic leg. Friends say he demanded to be sent back to combat.

An excerpt:

In previous wars, Jones would have received a medical discharge and returned to civilian life. But in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, the Pentagon has made it possible for some amputees to return to duty — and for a few to deploy overseas again. Advances in medical care and high-tech prostheses have enabled amputees to function far better.

Military spokesmen said that 62 soldiers, airmen or sailors have lost limbs in combat and returned to active duty. It is estimated that more than a dozen amputees have returned to duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 7:13 am and is filed under limb loss, veterans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post