Brain-Damaged U.S. Soldiers Sent Back on Battlefield

A study at Walter Reed Medical Center found that 52 percent of soldiers severely injured in Iraq and Afghanistan were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries, and yet many are sent back on the battlefield.

One such soldier was Retired Army Reserve Lt. Col. Raymond Trejo Rivas, 53, of New Braunfels, Texas, who was buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Rivas committed suicide after struggling with multiple traumatic brain injuries (TBI) that had been repeatedly misdiagnosed.

Rivas was sent back to the battlefield after each bomb blast until doctors realized that his brain was slowly being destroyed. After a 2006 mortar blast during a tour of duty in Iraq, he was sent home for good. At Walter Reed Medical Center, the full extent of his brain injuries seemed to elude doctors.

Rivas couldn’t do simple things like get dressed and feed himself. In written testimony to Congress, Rivas said even when he was sent to Brooke Army Medical Center he was pretty much on his own for two to three months. When the military finally assigned a case worker, Rivas received massive amounts of therapy. Although he seemed to be improving, he was found dead in his car on April 15th, of an apparent suicide.