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FACTS

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  • Approximately 1.5 million service members have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.
  • 29,321 troops have been wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan as of 08/28/2007.
  • Survival rates are higher in the Global War on Terror thanks to advances in body armor and medical technology.
  • For every American soldier killed in Iraq, 16 have been wounded – the highest killed-to-wounded ratio in U.S. history. In Vietnam, the ratio was 2.6 wounded per fatality.
  • Of the troops who are air evacuated, 80 percent go back to the United States for more care or a disability discharge and 20 percent return to Iraq.
  • An estimated one in four soldiers has a service-connected disability when returning home from the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Common types of injuries include traumatic brain injuries, amputations and blindness.
  • Estimates predict the lifetime healthcare tab for these troops will be $250 billion to $650 billion.
  • As many as 400,000 service members could eventually apply for disability benefits after discharge.
  • The unemployment rate among the nation’s 2.5 million service-disabled men and women is 15.8 percent; three times that of the general population.
  • Approximately 75 percent of veterans have a high school education.

References:

Marchione, Marilynn. (2007). Gov’t Struggles to Care for Wounded GI’s. Associated Press. Retrieved June 28, 2007 from Nexis.

Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, “America’s Wars”, September 30, 2006.

Department of Defense, Defense Manpower Data Center, and “Contingency Tracking System.

Department of Labor

 

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