Where Did My Brain Go?

By August 29, 2006, “signature injury” was in the news. Actually it was the news.
On August 29, 2006, the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, published, “Brain injury budget faces cut: Military research, treatment at risk.” by Jay Price, which began, “Brain injuries are so common among U.S. troops that they’re called the signature injury of [...]

This is the first reference I found to “signature injury” This press release is dated two days after Dr. Zitnay’s letter.
JWV Deplores Potential Budget Cut for Treatment of War-Related Brain Injuries
08/22/2006
The Jewish War Veterans of the USA  (JWV) condemns as immoral the reduction in funding for research and treatment of brain injuries in the 2007 [...]

On August 20, 2006, Dr. Zitnay wrote this letter to the editor of the Washington Times.
Helping brain-injured veteransI wish to thank The Washington Times for supporting the Defense and Veterans’ Brain Injury Center (“Brain-dead appropriations,” Editorial, Thursday) and, more importantly, our troops who suffer brain injuries on behalf of our country.
I am the co-founder of [...]

The term “signature injury of the war” seems to have originated in May 2006, when Dr. George A. Zitnay, co-founder of Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Dr. Zitnay said that body armor saves lives, but leaves many troops with brain damage, adding, “Traumatic brain injury is the signature [...]

Presidential candidates are jumping on the brain injury bandwagon, calling it the “signature injury of the war.” But where were they before they started campaigning? I look for the answers, beginning with the “Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2006.”