…the total number of what military doctors call “traumatic amputations” among 5,694 members of the U.S. military between 2000 and 2011. More than a third — 2.037 — were major amputations, consisting of at least a hand or foot. “Nearly two-thirds of major amputations occurred during a deployment or were deployment-related,” a new Pentagon report notes. “Recent increases in numbers of major amputations generally reflect the extent and intensity of ground combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
