American troops wounded in the war with Iran told CBS that the U.S. military minimized the seriousness of their injuries in order to make the conflict look better than it really was. The soldiers were hurt in an Iranian drone attack on a U.S. base in Kuwait in March, and they say the Pentagon portrayed their wounds as less severe than they actually were.
In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said nearly 90% of the roughly 400 service members injured during the confrontation with Iran had only minor injuries and had since returned to duty. Some of the wounded, however, said their conditions were far worse than the official labels they received.
Cory Hicks, 37, said he suffered severe shrapnel injuries from the blast and underwent several emergency surgeries at a hospital in Kuwait. He said his wife was told by a military official after the strike that his injuries were “minor.” According to the message she received, “Your husband was injured, he has a minor jaw injury, and he will be returned to duty.” Hicks told CBS, “I absolutely believe the military and the Pentagon tried to downplay the incident.”
The U.S. Army rejected the accusation, saying terms such as “not seriously wounded” and “battle casualty” have specific meanings that families misunderstood. It said, “The care and well-being of our soldiers are our top priority,” and insisted, “Any suggestion that the Army seeks to minimize the injuries of a soldier is simply not true.” An Army spokesman said that under service rules, “seriously wounded” or “very seriously wounded” means a person is at risk of dying from the wounds within 72 hours.
Amy Behrman described a similar experience after a drone hit the Shuaybah port in Kuwait on March 1. The next day she was told her husband, soldier Rodney Behrman, had been injured and was classified as “not seriously wounded.” She said she was told he had been treated and returned to duty, which she called “a huge relief.” But on March 3 she got another call from Rodney, who had spent the night in a Kuwaiti hospital and told her, after a long pause, “I can’t go back.” Six American soldiers were killed in the Shuaybah port attack.
