7 East is a floor at the National Hospital in Bethesda, MD where our service men and women come home after being injured on the battle field.  7 East houses many concussions or traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from abroad.  Christian Davenport of the Washington Post wrote a story that appeared on The News Tribune’s Military page.

The military brass are discovering that what used to be shrugged off as “getting your bell rung” can lead to serious consequences. In some cases, even apparently mild brain injuries can leave a soldier disqualified for service or require lifelong care that critics say the Department of Veterans Affairs isn’t equipped to handle.

Since 2000, traumatic brain injury, or TBI, has been diagnosed in about 180,000 service members, the Pentagon says. But, a Rand study in 2008 estimated the total number of service members with TBI to be about 320,000.

This “hidden” danger is not hidden.  It is a problem that the military REFUSED to believe in and spend resources toward.  More and more pieces like the one written by Davenport need to be put out there.  Many lives, not only the soldiers, but their families are affected by this.