Old Tape

I was watching a show last night where they showed messages from service members overseas, telling their loved ones hello and such. I was shocked, however, when I recognized one of them. Army specialist J.R. Salzman (1/34 Minnesota NG) is a blogger who was injured by an IED in Iraq about six months ago, resulting in the amputation of his right arm and injuring his left arm also.

Not only was Salzman kind of famous for competing in a lumberjack's log-rolling competition on ESPN and in the movies, but he has become well known for blogging through his combat tour, injury, and recovery at Walter Reed.

And now six months later, here he is on my TV screen, fully intact, saying that "everything's fine" in Iraq. Yikes, no it's not. I had a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, desiring to warn the young man that he would soon be grievously injured but was helpless to change something that happened last December.

The show I was watching was new on the Military Channel and I'd like to think that these personal messages are not all recycled from last year (or earlier?), but to air old tape of a somewhat famous soldier who is now a well known amputee saying he was "fine" seems most unfortunate. In fact, it's kind of macabre. Shouldn't somebody make sure that the messages to loved ones that get aired aren't from a soldier who has been killed or injured?