Wounded vet struggles with deeper injuries

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - His biceps steel hard, injured Iraq war veteran Ken Sargent is looking more like the career soldier who shipped out for his second tour than the severely wounded man who was evacuated from Najaf in August 2004. But his appearance only tells part of the story.

A bullet responsible for his wounds entered below his right eye, blowing off a chunk of brain, erasing most of Sargent's vision, the hearing in his left ear and portions of his memory and mental functioning.

After eight surgeries -- including one to put a metal plate in his head -- and countless hours of rehabilitation, the 38-year-old Marine master sergeant's chest and arms are buffed from workouts with weights. He's again walking, speaking and cracking jokes, but is dogged by fatigue, unable to work full-time and depends on his family for help with daily tasks.

Sargent and thousands of other soldiers with traumatic brain injury (TBI) -- the signature wound of the U.S. war on terrorism -- represent America's new war wounded.

Based on information in a recent report from the Government Accountability Office, an estimated 4,000 troops have TBI.

While many of their lives have been saved by advances in medical technology, a number of them will require specialized, long-term care from a military health system that has been under fire for losing medical records, pay mishaps and miring troops in bureaucracy and red tape as they transition from military to civilian life.

"My injuries can't be fixed. I can't get inches of my brain back. I can't get my hearing back. Doctors told me that the damage to my eyes can't be fixed," said Sargent, who joined the Marines at 18 and wants nothing more than to do another 20.

While he has regained day-to-day function and works on base a couple days a week, what remains of his vision is blurred or doubled. His brain also took a major jolt from the bullet, which has upset its wiring.