When war casualty figures are announced, the list usually includes both the dead and wounded. For all practical purposes an injury is almost as useful as a fatality. The cold logic of such devilish grim business classes both in the same category ... loss of retaliatory potential. There is no place in this horror called war for the wounded. They have nothing more to offer to the immediate needs. They have been reduced from possibility to impotency.

Thus, those who use statistics as part of strategy take comfort and counsel in the knowledge that a wounded soldier no longer has a contribution to make. What he once had to offer is no longer helpful or utilitarian. From such a fact the enemy may find cause for rejoicing, his allies may have regret and, as an individual, the wounded soldier may d…