Veterans with Hearing Loss

On April 11, 2006, Captain Brogan was leading a patrol in a marketplace of Rawah, Iraq when a suicide bomber had walked around a corner, directly behind Captain Brogan and two of his soldiers and blew himself up. While Captain Brogan life was spared, one of his soldiers, SGT Kenneth Hess was mortally wounded.

As a result of the blast, Captain Brogan received several severe injures - a penetrating traumatic brain injury (TBI) from shrapnel fragments entering the brain, a nearly severed right arm, an incomplete spinal cord injury and perforated ear drums causing severe hearing loss, tinnitus and balance problems. He spent over a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to recover and rehabilitate how to walk and talk.

"It is about learning how to overcome those difficulties and continue life," he said on Thursday during the Keynote session. I watched just how far Captain Brogan, who is now 28 years old, has come from three years ago and it is nothing less than amazing. He could hardly walk ten feet and Thursday, I watched him walk up the stairs with such ease. Three years ago, he could hardly talk and I watched him fervently recite the Pledge of Allegiance. He has been awarded the Purple Heart, a member of the American Legion, and the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), the DAV (Disabled American Veterans), the commander of Chapter 356 Military Order of the Purple Heart and HLAA Knoxville Chapter in Knoxville, TN. He has testified to Congress about improving the Federal Recovery Coordination Program for wounded warriors.

Captain Brogan stated that out of all his injuries, hearing loss is the most troublesome of his problems. It is the invisible ones that are the most debilitating. It is no surprise that the returning veterans are now coming back in our communities are beginning to show symptoms of noised induced hearing loss. This has escalated to be the number one disability for veterans according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. There are over 750,000 veterans collecting disability for hearing loss related disability. These soldiers, especially those in combat are exposed to a louder type of noise environment. They are exposed to heavy artillery, rockets, battle tanks, aircrafts and ships are part of their everyday listening environment. A F-16 fighter jet can generate over 150 decibels of noise at take off. And M-16 rifle can create generate up to 157 decibels. A shotgun blast can register at 170 decibels. And roadside bombs can start at 183 decibels. When someone is repeatedly exposed to said noise levels, the chances of one suffering from a hearing loss increase dramatically. These soldiers are not in the position to excuse themselves during combat to put a pair of ear plugs in because they depend on their ears for information and security. But they are in a position of actively seeking out others like them because they are far from alone with dealing with a hearing loss.

Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz, president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology talk about their new initiative, Military Veterans with Hearing Loss Project, a program designed especially for veterans of OIF and OEF who have a hearing loss that HLAA is a partner of this project. HLAA is offering a free one-year membership for Veterans of OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) that you can contact the Membership Department to find out more information. HLAA offered free HLAA Convention 2009 Registration to Nashville to OIF and OEF Veterans as well. Since RIT/NTID is a designated Yellow Ribbon and Servicemembers Opportunity Consortium college with oncampus audiological services, note taking, captioning and other classroom technologies that can cater to our returning troops with a hearing loss to learn their best. This pilot program will be expanded over the next five years to over 200 career programs and majors.

Remember, if you see a veteran, stop and thank him/her for their service and for our freedom. We can thank our veterans by giving them the support that they need to deal with hearing loss.

Captain, U.S. Army (retired) Mark A. Brogan with his beautiful wife Sunny.