'If Chuck Norris was here, the war would be over'

This is an artcle about Chuck Norris' 2006 visit to military hospitals in Iraq. Traumatic brain injury is a serious risk to our troops.

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Bruce

"I was taken back a bit when I turned a corner and found myself face-to-face with the two injured Marines. They were gingerly shuffling down the hallway, about to return to their hospital room. One was a tall skinny kid in his early 20s with a topknot of dark hair, his face flecked with shrapnel marks. He was holding an IV bag in the air for his buddy as they struggled along. The other Marine appeared more seriously injured. He was shorter, with blond hair and the build of a linebacker. Both of his arms were heavily bandaged up to his shoulders and frozen in position in front of him.
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In this new and escalating world of war, with bigger and more lethal bombs and improvised explosive devices as the weapons of choice, more than 200,000 troops have now tested positive for concussions or other forms of traumatic brain injuries from exposure to such detonations. Yet, little is known about what happens to the brain as a result of such powerful bomb blasts. As noted in Lizette Alvarez’s 2008 report in the New York Times, the ramifications often go unseen by the military because symptoms often worsen once veterans leave the structure of the military for the unpredictability of civilian life."