Walking wounded

Friday, Aug. 8, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Dunne’s squad found itself under intense attack in Baghdad this year. Roadside bombs had left one soldier wounded, another unconscious. Rifle and machine gun fire had pinned other soldiers down and a sniper had killed yet another.

Dunne wanted to stop the sniper, but he didn’t know where the sniper fire was coming from. He couldn’t hear well enough to tell. His hearing had been damaged during his two previous tours in Iraq.

USA Today reported Monday that last year, before Dunne was sent back to Iraq, his company commander raised a concern about Dunne’s hearing. A doctor said Dunne had the hearing of a 70-year-old and recommended he not be sent back to combat.

However, a panel of military leaders, dismissing hearing loss as common in the Army, found him fit for combat and sent him back to Iraq. The doctor who objected recommended he be fit with a hearing aid, but he never was.

Unfortunately, Dunne’s story is common in the military. USA Today reported that since 2003, 43,000 troops classified as medically unfit for combat were sent back to war. The military is obviously trying to fill positions and is willing to take serious risks to do so.

Dunne was pulled out of combat only after USA Today inquired about his condition, which a senior commander unbelievably said he knew nothing about. Not only did Dunne have hearing problems, but he had suffered from symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and needed regular painkiller injections for previous back injuries.

The military, as a result of its desperate rush to muster troops, put Dunne and his squad in danger.

Now Dunne carries some guilt over the soldier who died during the attack in Baghdad.

“I blame myself a lot for not being able to identify the threat simply because of the way I heard the shots,” he said.

The real blame belongs to his superiors in the Army, who never should have put him in harm’s way in the first place.