What happens to service members who have lost limbs?

I was just at the combat advisor training course a couple months ago with a Soldier that had an above the knee amputation. My old airborne school instructor had a below the knee. The Army Marksmanship Unit has a couple Soldiers with amputations. As MSG (Join to see) said, they are definitely out there, and it's a lot more common than it once was to continue service after a major injury like that.

CPT (Join to see) - My PEB came back with a 70% rating for a medical retirement, to include a skull loss of 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" with underlying loss of brain matter due to multiple gun shot and shell fragment wounds. A career counselor called me in, giving me the option to stay. The offer was to go back to Bragg as an instructor in Special Forces Training Group. No thanks, I took the money and ran. That was 1969, so even then the Army was trying to find something for you to do if you wanted to stay.

I had two Soldiers who had to use prosthetics for missing limbs when I was a Combat Engineer Company Commander. One Soldier had a missing arm below the elbow. Another had a missing hand below the wrist. One was a Supply Sergeant and the other one was a Mechanic in my HQ Platoon Maintenance Section. It was my understanding that they applied to stay on AD, were boarded, and were tested for a Medical Evaluation. Both passed the Medical Evans and were allowed to stay on AD in their former MOS. Both were excellent Soldiers and I was proud to have them under my Command. Oh, and when our Battalion deployed to Vietnam, they deployed with the rest of us and served out their tours with distinction. I learned a lesson from them. I learned that a disability is something to live with, not something that controls your life or makes a person anything less than what they were before they became disabled.