California Connected Newsroom

The San Jose Mercury News’ Mark Emmons files part three of a five-part series on traumatic brain injuries suffered by Iraq War soldiers and the long, painful road to recovery. Today’s piece focuses on Michelle Sandoval, the wife of veteran Frank Sandoval. “There are pivotal moments in the recovery of every severely wounded service member, moments when the future — for both the wounded and their families — seems to hang in the balance,” Emmons reports. “For Frank and Michelle, who had staked so much on this surgery, there was a sense that they had arrived at their own crossroads.” Sadly, Emmons tells us that about 60 percent of the patients treated at Palo Alto’s Acute Center Ward 7D have also lost their marriages.

• War Stories from Ward 7-D: At the Polytrauma Unit of the VA medical center in Palo Alto, we follow four soldiers with Traumatic Brain Injury who are working to rehabilitate their bodies and their minds.
• Military Recruiting: California Connected visits Sonora and San Francisco to get a firsthand look at the challenges facing today’s Army recruiters.
• Military Marriage Counseling: Marriage counseling for returning soldiers provided en masse in auditoriums.
• Twentynine Palms: The city of Twentynine Palms hosts the largest live-fire military base in the world. While Marines from the base are in on the frontlines of the war in Iraq, the community is trying to keep its economy out of the red.