Wounded soldiers, families accuse Army of downplaying war injuries
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Wounded soldiers, families accuse Army of downplaying war injuries
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Jonah Kaplan
Investigative Reporter
Jonah Kaplan is an award-winning correspondent and investigative journalist who has built a strong reputation for his balanced reporting, thoughtful interviews, and deeply researched coverage of high-impact issues affecting the communities across the country. Based in Minneapolis, his work appears on all of CBS News' programs and platforms, including the CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings and CBS 24/7.
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Jonah Kaplan,
Michael Kaplan
Reporter and Producer
Michael Kaplan is an award-winning reporter and producer for the CBS News Investigative Unit. He specializes in securing scoops and crafting long-form television investigations. His work has appeared on "60 Minutes," CNN and in The New York Times.
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Michael Kaplan
Updated on: June 24, 2026 / 8:45 AM EDT / CBS News
Add CBS News on GoogleWhen Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked about the toll of the conflict with Iran in March, he told reporters that "almost 90%" of the 400 injured American service members had sustained only minor injuries and had since returned to duty.
Now, some of those wounded soldiers tell CBS News the injuries were far more serious than the official designation provided by the military.
Chief Warrant Officer Rodney Bearman's body was riddled with shrapnel in the early hours of the war on March 1 when an Iranian drone slammed into his work station in Kuwait. Medical records reviewed by CBS News show he also suffered a concussion, hearing and vision loss, and damage to his lungs. The Army has classified his condition as "not seriously injured."
"That assessment is unacceptable," his wife, Amy Bearman, told CBS News in an interview.
Chief Bearman, 57, was one of more than 20 hurt in the deadliest strike of the conflict on American soldiers and the worst attack on American troops since 2021. The Bearmans are also among several survivors and their families who told CBS News they weren't being treated by the military as combat casualties for reasons they could not understand — a claim an Army spokesman strongly denied.
In several cases, injured service members said they had been cleared for duty. But that "duty" involves active orders to recuperate from injuries in specialized "soldier recovery units." (A Pentagon spokesperson told CBS News that soldiers in recovery units are not counted as having returned to duty.)
Sergeant First Class Cory Hicks, 37, also suffered severe shrapnel wounds from the blast and underwent multiple emergency surgeries at a Kuwaiti hospital. He said his wife was told by an Army official after the strike that his injuries were "minor."
"They said your husband was injured, he has a minor jaw injury, and he's going to be returned to duty," said Hicks. He told CBS News he "absolutely" believes the Army and the Pentagon have tried to downplay the incident.
In a statement to CBS News, the Army strongly pushed back against that claim and said such military designations as "not seriously injured" and "combat casualty" had specific definitions that were being misconstrued by the families.
"The care and well-being of our Soldiers is of the highest priority," an Army spokesperson wrote. "Any assertion that the Army seeks to downplay a soldier's injuries is simply not true."
Citing Army protocols, an Army spokesman explained that a soldier who is classified as "seriously injured" or "very seriously injured" is someone at risk of dying from their wounds within 72 hours.
A life-changing phone call
Amy Bearman said she knew to stay away from the TV when the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.
Her husband had left for Kuwait in September 2025 — his fifth deployment since they were married nearly 25 years ago. His unit, the Iowa-based 103rd Sustainment Command, relocated from Camp Arifjan to a small tactical outpost at Port of Shuaiba weeks before war broke out.
"A lot of friends were calling, texting and wanting to know what I knew," Bearman told CBS News. "From being a military spouse for the last almost 25 years, I knew that if anything ever happened to my husband while he was serving, I knew I would receive either an official phone call or an official visit."
On March 1, an Iranian drone slammed into the multi-trailer work station at Port of Shuaiba. The next day, Amy Bearman received an official call from Fort Knox.
"They told me that my husband's injuries were classified as NSI, and they described that, or they defined that, as 'not seriously injured,'" she recalled. "He was treated and released back to duty. That was a huge relief. I think maybe that was the first time that I took a breath in 24 hours."
But her husband's injuries turned out to be worse than she said the Army led her to believe.
On March 3, Amy Bearman received another phone call, this time from her husband, Rodney, who had just spent the night in a Kuwaiti hospital.
"I could just hear him breathing and then he finally said, 'I'm going to be OK.' I waited a few moments and then asked if he returned to duty. It seemed like forever before he answered me, and then he said, 'I can't go back.'"
The strike on Port of Shuaiba killed six U.S. soldiers.
In April, a CBS News investigation revealed there were multiple warnings ahead of the strike, related to force protection. Soldiers told CBS News they were left unprotected from the drone attack despite intelligence showing Iran was targeting their position in Kuwait. The findings sparked an investigation from Senate Democrats.
CBS News then spoke with other survivors of the blast who detailed requests to leadership for more resources ahead of the strike. Those requests focused on the number of medical personnel as well as the availability and accessibility of medical supplies.
"This was a failure," Major Stephen Ramsbottom said in an interview with CBS News last month, adding he believed Master Sergeant Nicole Amor, one of the six soldiers killed, could have survived her wounds had there been a doctor, a fixed aid station or more than one ambulance at the post.
The soldiers, according to witnesses, instead triaged themselves with makeshift bandages, braces and tourniquets. They commandeered civilian vehicles to drive the wounded to two local Kuwaiti hospitals.
Doctors noted that Bearman perhaps should have stayed longer in the hospital in Kuwait, but the Army "pulled him out" because of security concerns, medical records show.
The Army spokesperson said the investigation into "the facts and circumstances of the attack" has been completed, and findings from the probe will be released once next of kin have been briefed.
"Our hope for the investigation is that an honest assessment by the Army will prevent this from happening again to other service members," said Amy Bearman.
Once stabilized, Hicks was airlifted to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany and later to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, where he required inpatient care for several weeks.
Now nearly four months since the attack, he remains at Walter Reed in a soldier recovery unit with a "pretty severe" traumatic brain injury, and expects to stay there for at least the next six months.
A spokesperson for Walter Reed declined to comment due to privacy laws.
In a written statement to CBS News, an Army spokesman declined to comment on what was told to Hicks' wife, but said, "What I can tell you is that SFC Hicks received the care and treatment necessary in theater to prepare him for evacuation outside of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to receive a higher level of care as dictated by his wounds."
Army defends "not seriously injured" designation
Chief Bearman returned to the United States on March 18, still injured and still with pieces of shrapnel throughout his body.
Bearman himself then applied for and was granted a request to be assigned to a soldier recovery unit at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which was within driving distance from his wife, Amy, and their home in West Virginia.
On March 26, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito wrote to the Army on Bearman's behalf, seeking clarity and answers on what happened to him in Kuwait and why Amy was told her husband was "not seriously injured."
Nearly two months later, on May 13, Major General Michael J. Leeney responded to Capito and Bearman, defending the [not seriously injured] designation but noting "this technical classification is in no way intended to minimize [Chief Warrant Officer] Bearman's contribution and sacrifice."
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
