Despite being prevalent in many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can often go unnoticed. The symptoms are sometimes hard to notice and the condition may not get enough attention, but there is a growing push to construct nine medical centers across the country dedicated to treating TBI, according to Military.com.
The effort is part of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which hopes to raise enough money to bring the planned centers to fruition. They will be modeled after Walter Reed's National Intrepid Center of Excellence, which is designed to rehabilitate soldiers with brain injuries. According to the website, the fund's manager, David Winters, says the goal is to bring in about $100 million. In fact, there have already been groundbreaking ceremonies for centers at Virginia's Camp Lejeune and Fort Belvoir.
"Building the center here will enable us to provide localized advanced research and care for our Marines and sailors suffering from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and other related afflictions," Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford said at Camp Lejeune recently.
Though there are no concrete figures, most experts estimate that as many as 20 percent of the most recent veterans have some form of TBI, according to the Brain Trauma Foundation.