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August 18, 2003 Troops wounded
in action not listed among casualties FOX Company Marines planned to
fly Jesus Vidana from his home in Los
Angeles to Utah to participate in the South Salt
Lake parade and a picnic on July 4. Delta Air Lines
donated a ticket and Smith's provided the food.
Vidana, 25, received a head wound in Baghdad. He
was one of 17 Marines in Fox Company awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds and injuries received in
combat. Driver is Cpl. Kenneth Toone His buddies remember Jesus Vidana dropping like
a rock when shrapnel crashed through his helmet and
into his skull on April 8 during during a fierce
street fight in Baghdad. Under fire, Sgt. Derryl Spencer, Salt
Lake City, and Cpl. Robert Reeves, Las
Vegas, carried the unconscious Marine to safety.
His head wound was so severe that their commander
radioed he was dead. Cpl. Vidana, 25, survived and has undergone
three operations and months of rehabilitation to
learn all over again how to feed himself, talk and
walk. A fourth surgery is scheduled to remove more
shrapnel from his brain. He is among 17 Marine
reservists from Fox Company, drawn mainly from Utah
and Nevada, awarded Purple Hearts for wounds
received in combat. They are called WIAs for wounded in action, but
their numbers are not listed under casualty
postings from the U.S. Central Command or the
Pentagon. Reporters must specifically ask for those
tallies. So far, 1,007 U.S. military personnel have been
wounded since March 19 when U.S. troops crossed the
border into Iraq, said Lt. Ryan Fitzgerald
from Central Command. That number compares with 467
"nonmortal wounds" in the 1991 Gulf War, according
to the Department of Veterans Affairs. "I know of no other war
in which WIAs have not been listed among the
casualties," said Robert Voyles, director
of the Fort Douglas Museum. "I have no idea why
this conflict would be any different." Fitzgerald said WIA numbers are not publicized
because the military has no way of determining the
severity of the wounds. "Someone could get a couple of stitches for a
cut and return to duty that same afternoon," he
said. "That's why we give these numbers on a
response basis to reporters. This is to help the
media. Otherwise, we would have to refer them to
each of the four services for the
determination." Lt. Col. Cynthia Colin at the Pentagon
said the Department of Defense posts only battle
deaths because that is the number provided by
Central Command. 'We can't put out numbers we don't have," she
said. "It's my understanding that day-to-day
incidents are more difficult to track." The DOD lists the number of U.S. battle deaths
in Iraq on its Web site, http://www.Defense
link.mil: 174 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, compared
to 148 in the first Gulf War. Utah National Guard historian Richard
Roberts, a retired colonel, said he fears that
the number of WIAs isn't posted because of
political efforts to downplay consequences of the
war. "There's always more wounded than those who are
killed," he said. "The number of battle deaths is
tragic, but it's only a part of what's happening in
a war." Fox Company Staff Sgt. James Cawley,
killed in a Humvee accident on March 29, is listed
among the 93 noncombat deaths in Iraq. During the
first Gulf War, 235 uniformed Americans died in
incidents not related to combat or in
accidents. Vidana first regained consciousness in a
military hospital in Spain. He learned that the
Navy's so-called Devil Docs had asked CNN medical
correspondent Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon,
to operate when Vidana was airlifted to a field
hospital in Iraq. "I probably owe my life to Dr. Gupta," Vidana
said from his home in Los Angeles. "It's a miracle
I'm still here." He said he is also grateful that the Marine
Corps flew his parents to Spain to be by his
hospital bed. "I don't remember much about that
time," he said, "other than I was told that every
few minutes I'd ask the same nurses what their
names were." Vidana continues to fight off infections and
depression, caused by a chemical imbalance from the
wound or the stress of rehabilitation. "I've had physical therapy for walking and
occupational therapy to help with activities of
daily living," he said. "I couldn't dress myself,
eat by myself or groom myself. I've made a lot of
progress, but it's been slow." Still, he doesn't
regret his military service. "It's a good thing we
were in Iraq," he said. "It's also a good feeling
to know that I'm still alive." Vidana has been awarded two Purple Hearts: for
his head wound in Baghdad and for a previous ankle
injury doctors discovered when they cut off his
boot. He said he slipped in the mud during a
firefight in Al Garraf on March 25 when Fox Company
relieved a Marine artillery unit pinned down by
enemy fire. Vidana said he didn't report his ankle injury
because "I didn't think it was that bad." Spencer,
who would help carry out Vidana from sniper fire 12
days later in Baghdad, also helped him in the
firefight. "It was difficult to move with that sprain,"
said Vidana. "Sgt. Spencer helped get me moving
again. I was lucky that time too." Vidana will get a medical discharge and continue
his rehabilitation program. He said he can walk,
but has limited vision and balance problems. He
hopes that by the spring he can resume taking
college classes that were cut short in February
2002 when his Marine Reserve unit was activated in
the nation's war on terrorism. "I had wanted to be an occupational therapist,"
he said. "I still do, now more than
ever." | ![[]](../../std/dings/list.gif){kind=small}
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