It is the signature wound of the Iraq war: limb loss. The potency of insurgent bombs and the proficiency of U.S. lifesavers have produced this result. Of the 20,322 Americans wounded in action, 436 have been amputees--more than 2%, a figure higher than in every war of the previous century except Vietnam, for which there were no good statistics. In his book, Michael Weisskopf chronicles the recoveries of three amputees he met at Walter Reed.
Cpl. Bobby Isaacs
Isaacs was given 72 hours to live after a bomb slammed his humvee in Mosul in December 2003. He arrived at Walter Reed...