Consider this:  An RAF "Flying Officer" named Douglas Bader--who'd lost both legs in a plane crash during the 1930's--served quite successfully during WWII and, piloting a Spitfire, distinguished himself during the Battle of Britain.

A number of different American servicemen missing one limb or another have also served quite successfully in the past.  Experience has shown us that determined individuals can always rise above physical problems. I, for one, have always believed that we should be impressed by the determination of such people.

(n.b. PLEASE do not misinterpret this comment as support for George Bush's idiotic war, his failed presidency or his personality disorder. It is still an idiotic war, it is still a failed presidency and history will provide us with a diagnosis, probably from DSM-VIII or so, for whatever it is that ails Mr. Bush)  

Bravo to the military and bravo to these brave men.  

as noted by others, this isn't unique in the annals of military history. nor, are they being forced to stay in, they are requesting to.

should the military allow them to, after suffering grievous injury? beats me. however, this was common practice in wwII and korea, if they passed their physical. something else you might not be aware of: not being combat effective can harm your career aspirations. ask the women not allowed into combat; it hurts them, because it restricts the military's ability to freely move them around.

Pretending this is some free choice made with equal options on the other side is absurd.

I force myself to watch the pictures of those killed in Iraq on the PBS News Hour and many of them are 19 & 20 with an 18 year old on occasion. They look like a lot like high school students to me so I suppose that someone might think they are kids. They may have been kids when they entered the service but they were adults when they died.

I agree wholeheartedly with Jeralyn. These soldiers have given and sacrificed enough. They should not be cut loose from the military, and there should be no limit to the support given them to make the transition to civilian life, but combat should be off limits to them.

I have no problem with their wanting to remain in the army, I just don't think they should be returned to active combat duty. They've already lost enough.

Only in America, folks.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said soldiers who have lost a limb or suffered permanent disability still have much to contribute to the military as well as organizations like the Paralympics. The department is exploring various ways to keep severely wounded soldiers employed, including a review of the universal policy that requires troops be fit and able to deploy to operations anywhere in the world.

[snip]

"We are reviewing that policy in light of the number of casualties that we have had from Afghanistan to make sure that people who have sacrificed their lives for us, and sacrificed maybe parts of their future, that we can look after them and re-integrate them into the military," he said.

[snip]

McCoy is confident she will fill all the physical requirements -- including a 13 km march with a heavy rucksack. And she's not afraid of losing another limb in the war zone.

[snip]

Master Cpl. Jody Mitic, who lost his feet to a land mine four months ago, also sees sport as an aid to rehabilitation.

"My mission since day one since I got hurt was to find a way to stay in uniform," he said.

"Just the fact that I'm a sniper makes me want to stay and do sniper stuff just because I really like it, and I don't see a civilian market for it so I've got to stay in and get that kind of work."

Once, a [British] soldier who had lost a limb in battle would have been pensioned off or transferred to a desk job. Now, though, some are being passed as fit for duty and are being allowed to return to the frontline.

Williams missed six months of his girlfriend's pregnancy when he was given six days' notice to return to Iraq for his second tour. He also missed his baby boy's birth. Three weeks ago, he went home and saw his first child.

"He looks just like me," he said. "I didn't want to come back. . . . We're waiting to get blown up." [...]

Next to him, Spc. Will Hedin, 21, of Chester, Conn., thought about what he was going to say.

"We're not making any progress," Hedin said, as he recalled a comrade who was shot by a sniper last week. "It just seems like we drive around and wait to get shot at. ... It's just more troops, more targets."

In the past two months, the unit has lost two men. In May alone, at least 120 U.S. troops died in Iraq, the bloodiest month in 2007 and the highest number since the battles of Fallujah in 2004.

Spc. Kevin Krasco, 20, of Medford, Mass., and Spc. Kevin Adams, 20, of Moosup, Conn., chimed in with their dismay before turning the conversation to baseball.

"It's like everything else in this war," Adams said, referring to Baghdad. "It hasn't changed."