I spend a lot of time at the VA these days. Sometimes in Temple, the closest VA hospital.

I remember the first time I went to the Wounded Warriors center in San Antonio and saw some injuries that I’ve never forgotten.

One that has stayed with me for several years now is the young woman who had both arms removed at the shoulder. Young woman.

Another young woman I’ve been seeing during my visits to the Temple VA is missing both legs from the hips down. Nothing to connect prosthetics to.

I don’t know if it’s because they’re women, because they’re so young, because they have no option of prosthetics. or some mix of all, but these injuries jar me every time I see them.