New York Times claims US soldiers are at risk of suffering brain injuries from their own weapons
FEATUREDWIB LAND December 22, 2023 Staff Writer
Daniel Johnson
Chicago Tribune
(TNS)
The military is currently experiencing a mental health crisis, with suicide now the second leading cause of death for service members. Brain injuries suffered by service members are a big part of this crisis, and new information has revealed the risk that service members face even if they don’t deploy.
A recent New York Times investigation into artillery crews serving in Iraq and Syria found that those service members suffered from brain injuries caused by the firing of their own weapons. These injuries are also coming from shoulder mounted weapons and may have also played a role in the mental state of the Maine mass shooter.
I served with many of the men in The New York Times article on the artillery crews in Iraq and Syria and know them well. I have seen what effects these injuries have had on their lives and have experienced it myself. What happened to us doesn’t have to happen to other service members, if the Department of Defense and Congress acts.
It’s hard to explain how it feels to be behind an artillery piece when it fires: the force from the explosion that threw a hundred-pound shell for miles, knocking the breath out of you and causing a shudder in your bones. When the dust clouds began to form from the sand blown off the walls and ground, filling our noses with soot, and staining our uniforms to the point they sometimes looked white, I also often had a dull pain in my head like I had just gotten hit in the face.
https://warisboring.com/new-york-times-claims-us-soldiers-are-at-risk-of-suffering-brain-injuries-from-their-own-weapons/
