On July 7, 2005, Sergeant First Class Jeffrey E. Mittman was conducting operations in his Humvee when an improvised explosive device (IED) blew up. The explosion launched a projectile though the windshield. The object sheared off Mittman’s nose and lips, knocked out all of his teeth and blinded him. Mittman was sent back to the United States in a coma. After more than two years of facial reconstruction surgery, Mittman found himself in completely different surroundings. He was led to Manhattan’s posh Metropolitan Club where he told his story to Henry Kissinger, Mike Wallace, Barbara Walters and Ted Sorensen.
“My sacrifice,” he said, “was not that great.
Sargent Mittman was introduced by VA Secretary and former RNC chairman R. James Nicholson.
With Mittman seated two feet away from the podium, Secretary Nicholson said that there are fewer casualties in the current war than in any previous conflict.
“One in four combatants died in every US war,” Secretary Nicholson said. “In Iraq one out of 17 did: it’s a testament to our efficiency and medicine.”
Doctors were able to save Mittman’s life and since being Injured, he had devoted himself to advocacy on behalf of visually impaired people.
“I promised myself that I would be a positive influence on society,” he said.
Secretary Nicholas said that there are now 20,000 vision-impaired veterans in the US. Dr. Tara A. Cortes, chairman and CEO of Lighthouse International, an organization that advocates for the visually impaired, said that war injuries like Mittman’s are driving vision loss in the US to epidemic levels.
Mittman is able to see 12 to 18 inches through the use of his iStick, a vision-enhancing tool located in his laptop, and navigate with a special GPS that is attached to his PDA.
Secretary Nicholson said that both tools are now available to all vets through the Department of Veterans affairs.
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