Not all of the quarters are as bleak as Duncan's, but the despair of Building 18 symbolizes a larger problem in Walter Reed's treatment of the wounded, according to dozens of soldiers, family members, veterans aid groups, and current and former Walter Reed staff members interviewed by two Washington Post reporters, who spent more than four months visiting the outpatient world without the knowledge or permission of Walter Reed officials. Many agreed to be quoted by name; others said they feared Army retribution if they complained publicly.While the hospital is a place of scrubbed-down order and daily miracles, with medical advances saving more soldiers than ever, the outpatients in the Other Walter Reed encounter a messy bureaucratic battlefield nearly as chaotic as the real battlefields they faced overseas.On the worst days, soldiers say they feel like they are living a chapter of "Catch-22." The wounded manage other wounded. Soldiers dealing with psychological disorders of their own have been put in charge of others at risk of suicide.Disengaged clerks, unqualified platoon sergeants and overworked case managers fumble with simple needs: feeding soldiers' families who are close to poverty, replacing a uniform ripped off by medics in the desert or helping a brain-damaged soldier remember his next appointment."We've done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it," said Marine Sgt. Ryan Groves, 26, an amputee who lived at Walter Reed for 16 months. "We don't know what to do. The people who are supposed to know don't have the answers. It's a nonstop process of stalling."
Comments
I am always suspicious of stories originating in the WAPO. In this case, we hear from the nation's #2 liberal rag that the hated US Military is mistreating its wounded.
If reporters at the Fort Wayne papers sniffed long and hard enough in the lobbies of our local hospitals, they would most likely find disgruntled patients (or relatives thereof) ready to spew egregious tales of misdeeds by these medical facilities and their obviously incompetent staffs.
Oh how we all hope for only favorable outcomes after medical treatment ...but the often times reality of unfavorable odds for procedures that can only be performed at hospitals is not faced head on.
Who among us truly believes that trained medical personnel are deliberately mistreating Walter Reed patients?
"Who among us truly believes that trained medical personnel are deliberately mistreating Walter Reed patients?'
Interesting observation. Where exactly did you find that in the article? Was it when you saw it was from the Washington Post?
It sounds to me more likely a combination of benign neglect coupled with an overwhelmed staff along with a certain degree of incompetence.
All bureaucracies contain in them the 'Catch-22' syndrome. It's the nature of the beast. That said, we can either expose it and attempt to cause it to be corrected, or we can turn the blind eye to it and criticize those who do expose it.