i was at walter reed for a year and a half. i have a son there now for a patient. i recently went up to visit him. i feel that he's getting the best care of anyplace in the world. the army is treating him extremely well. he's national guards from florida. the only problem is sometimes the national guard is treated as stepchildren from the regular army. there are differences they have that they need to work on, but all in all, i think my son is receiving excellent care. they do absolutely wonderful things through the wounded warrior program in washington. my son's two daughters and his wife have been flown up there to stay with him for a week. they plan all kinds of things for the soldiers when we were there. they did that for us in vietnam, but not quite as much. doing so much wonderful things at walter reed right now for our soldiers, i'm so happy about the way the boys are being done today over the way they were in the past. host: are you still with us? before we get a response from joyce raezer, how was your son injured and what is he being treated for at the mo

. >> there's medical facilities at walter reed, bethesda, and all those installations around the worldcould be open just for emergency care. and so where does that young mom with the baby with the ear infection go? >> reporter: she says it's difficult for military personnel to focus on their task if they're worried about their families at home. marines at quantico would rather not be thinking about how they're going to pay their bills or put food on the table. >> that was peggy fox reporting. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." here's to my pants not leaving marks on my waist. achieve small wins with a healthy lifestyle and dannon light & fit. the light fresh yogurt with 80 calories vs. 100 in the other leading brand. here's to 80 calories tasting crazy good. live light and fit. >>> in oklahoma city, helicopters and ground crews are battling wind-driven wildfires threatening dozens of homes. the flames have blackened at least 1,500 acres and destroyed at least four homes. one firefighter was injured. >>> schools across the u.s. are being forced to make painful budget cuts

i was a walter reed hospital for 11 months last year, and i sort of missed all the action about who wasng on this. if i miss anybody, i apologize. i want to recognize the more recent colleague, a distinguished public servant with a passionate commitment to veterans. we cochaired a commission on veteran care. i cannot tell you -- well, i cannot tell all of you what a worker she is. there is never a dull moment when you work with donna. when you work for donna. i got that wrong. [laughter] but i want to most of all thank the citizen soldiers, the farmers, factory workers, recent immigrants as the verse as america itself, for all you did to preserve civilization when it was most in danger. in my lifetime, i have seen walls go up and walls come down. i have seen planes flown into buildings and organizers confuse hatred and murder with martyrdom. but that is not all i have witnessed. for mine is a generation that banished polio and jim crow, invented the computer and left footprints on the surface of the man. i will not describe myself as the most optimistic man in america. but how could you

i was at walter reed for a year and a half. i have a son there now for a patient. recently went up to visit him. i feel that he's getting the best care of anyplace in the world. the army is treating him extremely well. he's national guards from florida. the only problem is sometimes the national guard is treated as stepchildren from the regular army. there are differences they have that they need to work on, but all in all, i think my son is receiving excellent care. they do absolutely wonderful things through the wounded warrior program in washington. my son's two daughters and his wife have been flown up there to stay with him for a week. they plan all kinds of things for the soldiers when we were there. they did that for us in vietnam, but not quite as much. doing so much wonderful things at walter reed right now for our soldiers, i'm so happy about the way the boys are being done today over the way they were in the past. host: are you still with us? before we get a response from joyce raezer, how was your son injured and what is he being treated for at the mome

a person in the walter reed case the stars above that conditions so people know how to respond.you're talking about large things like the war it's very difficult to respond. the guillotine i think what thak is his readers fatigue and you always face it as a journalistao and first you're going to do one more story about what, do know,i and that's why we don't have i hink a lack of imaginationty about poverty economic downturn and what it did to people. our editors wanted those stories, on the other hand what they didn't want and i don't think you want either is a story you read the first paragraph and you know what the story is going to say. i'm not saying that's what all stories are like, but i think that makes a case for the new platforms that we have at our fink l tips that are still -- fingertips but not used to the full extent because you can use the written word with video and make something all the more powerful and seem new, and, it is new for those involved. >> one more question, please. i'm pushing -- >> go for it. [laughter] >> well, in my opinion, the two items to pri

guest: the walter reed proposal is for closure and about half of the site has been turned over to the district of columbia for development. certainly we want to work with the veterans in the city to make sure we have some kind of continuing presence of veterans activities and services at the hospital. we will control 62 acres and it will be developed as residential, as office, as retail. it will be a mixed use development. given the historic presence of military services there, especially a hospital, we want to make sure that that heritage, that legacy, is preserved. host: washington, mark, an independent caller. caller: mr. gray, i support your financial backing of charter schools in this city. but i think you are tremendously way off on the voucher issue. first of all, you keep saying that the vouchers are not supported by d. krfpc. you have own chair of the d.c. council in support of vouchers and generally when the application process for vouchers goes through four times the number of that have spots. there is strong support in the city for school choice and it seems to me that you

last tuesday congresswoman sue myrick and i went to visit the wounded at walter reed. these treats are always a vivid reminder of the true cost of war. seeing the men and women that have lost limbs for this country make me wonder how many more are going to be in that hospital both at walter reed and bethesda with severe wounds. after hearing secretary gates, i have great respect for secretary gates, but he has made it clear that we will be in afghanistan until 2014. he said it will be 2014 or 2015 before we can start substantially bringing down the number of troops in that country. . here we are in washington battling right now about the 2011 budget, what should we do, not do. cut this, cut that. yet we seem to find $8 billion a month for a corrupt leader in afghanistan named karzai. he's corrupt and his government is corrupt. and yet we are saying to the american people, if you are a senior, we can't be sure that you can get a sandwich at the senior citizen center in your county. we are saying to the children that cannot afford milk at home, there will be no programs

i was in walter reed hospital for 11 months last year.all of the action about who was working on this. if i have missed anybody, i apologize. i want to recognize a more recent colleague in secretary shalala who is a distinguished public servant with a passionate commitment to america's veterans. we shared a commission on veterans' care -- we chaired the commission on veterans' care. i cannot tell you what a worker she is and how she is committed. there is never a dull moment when you work with donna shalala -- when you work for donna shalala. 1 i got that wrong. [laughter] most of all, i want to thank the citizen-soldiers, farm boys, factory workers, recent immigrants as diverse as america itself for all that you did to preserve civilization when it was most endangered. in my lifetime, i have seen walls go up and walls come down. i have seen planes flown into buildings and murder confused with martyrdom. that is not all that i have witnessed. mine is the generation of vanished polio, jim crow, invented the computer, and left footprints on

guest: the walter reed proposal is for closure and about half of the site has been turned over to thedistrict of columbia for development. certainly we want to work with the veterans in the city to make sure we have some kind of continuing presence of veterans activities and services at the hospital. we will control 62 acres andt will be developed as residential, as office, as retail. it will be a mixed use development. given the historic presence of military services there, especially a hospital, we want to make sure that that heritage, that legacy, is preserved. host: washington, mark, an independent caller. caller: mr. gray, i support your financial backing of charter hools in this city. but i think you are tremendously way off on the voucher issue. first of all, you keep saying that the vouchers are not supported by d. krfpc. you have own chair of the d.c. council in support of vouchers and generally when the application process for vouchers goes through four times the nuer of that have spots. there is strong suppo in the city for school choice and it seems to me that your support

on single things like in your case a person in the walter reed case when stories about the bad conditionshere. that's one institution. people know how to respond when you're talking about large things like war and systems. it's very difficult to respond. the rolling stone story about that, i think what that is is read or fatigue. you aays and you always face it as a journalist. and you face added or fatigue.t? so you will do one more story about what?'t that's why we don't have, i nati think t recording on poverty here, the economic downturn and what it did to people. our editors wanted those stories, on the other hand what they didn't want and i don't think you want either is a story you read the first paragraph and you know what the story is going to say. i'm not saying that's what all stories are like, but i think that makes a case for the new platforms that we have at our fink l tips that are still -- fingertips but not used to the full extent because you can use the written word with video and make something all the more powerful and seem new, and, it is new for those involved. >> on

interrogation centers overseas, and a more recent one for disclosing the horrendous conditions at walter reed army medical center p. she is the author of a much acclaimed book, a plies diser finalist -- pulitzer finalist in keeping peace with america's military. further down the line is ac tompson. he came to journalism through a side door. in the san fransisco bay area, he was a self-proclaimed rocking the couch circuit. [laughter] he was an editor then with specific news service who happens not incidentally to be this year's winner of the george polk lifetime achievement award. he began freelancing and writing for the "san fransisco bay guardian" specializing in abuse in authority and corruption. he now works for propublic cay and port of a book called torture taxi and won a george polk for local reporting in 2005. the front line documentary that won him this year's george polk award discloses killings of civilians by police in the aftermath of katrina in new orleans. i think we have a snipit from the introduction which we can play now. ♪ >> tonight on front line, an exclusive investigation

today i had the great honor of visiting walter reid hospital -- walter reed hospital andly there got to speak with several of our -- and there i got to speak with several of our extremely brave, courageous soldiers who have been injured in battle and one young man who lost both legs, one just above the knee, one all the way to his pelvis, and lost a little bit of a finger on one hand, was on what can only be described as bionic legs which he said are extremely good, the technology is extremely advanced, but they still don't help him walk. and he talked to us for a long time about what he had been through, the progress he had made and what he hoped to achieve with technology. and his parting comment to us was, you know, this is the result of the federal government spending money on medical research. this is helping people not just in the military, knot not just in the armed forces -- not just in the armed forces but also in the private arena as well. and i look at what the republican budget that we will consider later in the week has done and it slashes money for medical research. and

interrogation centers overseas, and a more recent one for disclosing the horrendous conditions at walter reed army medical center p. she is the author of a much acclaimed book, a plies diser finalist -- pulitzer finalist in keeping peace with america's military. further down the line is ac tompson. he came to journalism through a side door. in the san fransisco bay area, he was a self-proclaimed rocking the couch circuit. [laughter] he was an editor then with specific news service who happens not incidentally to be this year's winner of the george polk lifetime achievement award. he began freelancing and writing for the "san fransisco bay guardian" specializing in abuse in authority and corruption. he now works for propublic cay and port of a book called torture taxi and won a george polk for local reporting in 2005. the front line documentary that won him this year's george polk award discloses killings of civilians by police in the aftermath of katrina in new orleans. i think we have a snipit from the introduction which we can play now. ♪ >> tonight on front line, an exclusive investigation

i was at walter reed yesterday.re were at least five soldiers there to are alive because of mrap. many of them are alive because of the mrap atv. there are all sorts of detectors for ited's. they are difficult to detect. the best detector of explosives or the dog. they have a lot of practice with fertilizer-like material. they turned out to be very good at it. we are making increased use of dogs. somebody who is used by tankers, helicopters, and sort forth -- and so forth feist himself buying dollars these days. -- buying dogs these days. job one for the acquisition of work force in today's environment -- i tell folks this all the time, we have to make sure we are doing everything we possibly can. we have to be as effective and as safe as we possibly can. we are doing everything we possibly can. our system does not make that easy. the ppbs system was designed for normal times. it was designed to prepare for war, not to wage war. it is an annual cycle. if we follow that, we would always be behind the eightball in afg