No one died after Iran launched a missile at a U.S. base in Iraq on January 8, but 34 U.S. soldiers have now been diagnosed with concussions or traumatic brain injuries.
NPR reported that eight of the troops with the brain injuries have been moved to the United States for treatment. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a press briefing on Friday that the troops were injured after Iran fired missiles at the al Asad airbase where the troops were station in Iraq. The attack was Iran’s response to the U.S. killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which was in response to Iran’s escalated attacks on U.S. bases and an embassy in Iraq.
President Donald Trump initially said “No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime,” but the Pentagon has now had to correct his remarks. Trump was correct to say that “We suffered no casualties.” Trump later downplayed the severity of the injuries, according to The Guardian, saying: “I heard that they had headaches. And a couple of other things. But I would say, and I can report, it is not very serious.”
Hoffman said during his press briefing that “This is a snapshot in time, what he wanted to make sure is that you’re provided with the most accurate numbers.”
Hoffman also suggested that news about the injuries was slow to develop based on the timeline of symptoms for brain injuries.
“What we saw was the number of people who were initially screened for concussion-like symptoms that showed up at one of the medical providers on the base saw their conditions improve rapidly,” he said during the briefing. “Others we saw their conditions didn’t improve — some got worse and had severe enough symptoms that they were transported on for further treatment.”
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The 8 wounded American soldiers who arrived in the U.S. are part of a larger contingent of 18 troops diagnosed with TBI who were initially medically evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Those now in the U.S. will be treated on at out-patient basis either at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. or at their home bases, according to Hoffman.
The 9 U.S. troops who remain in Landstuhl will continue to undergo evaluation and treatment there. One American soldier who was diagnosed with TBI after the Iranian attack and transported to Kuwait has now returned to duty in Iraq; 16 others who stayed in Iraq after being diagnosed with TBI have also returned to duty.
Hoffman was questioned whether the soldiers who received traumatic brain injuries would be awarded Purple Hearts, since the injury qualifies for the award. Hoffman wouldn’t confirm or deny any awards, saying, “That is a decision the services will have to make in due time.” He added: “I’m not going to get ahead of the service secretaries on that.”
Hoffman also said that Defense Secretary Mark Esper called for acting under secretary for personnel and readiness Matt Donovan to help staff review the procedures for reporting injuries.
“The secretary’s direction is focused on the fact that if you look at the different types of reporting systems that we have, sometimes the administrative reporting of an injury is different than the medical reporting. We need to get that clarified, we need to get a little better handle on it,” Hoffman said. “We need to be as transparent as possible on this.”