Combat Veterans, a question

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  • warthog

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    Feb 12, 2013
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    I know how noisy firearms are, I have even been around grenades and other types of explosions. So here is the question...

    How do you get through a firefight with all the noise? Do you use hearing protection or just deal with it?

    Been wondering about this for a while, thank you for your service and for letting me know about this stuff.....
     

    deo62

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    misread, was in artillery unit, tinnitus, 2 VA hearing aids and read lips
     
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    AngryRooster

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    Just had to deal with it.



    Constant ringing now.

    There is a certain range of tones that just blends in. Wife will sometimes ask me if I hear that buzzing. It's hard for her to get it when I tell her both yes & no. Other ranges of noise & chimes send me through the roof. That forest fire commercial with the dancing matches & chimes makes me want to claw my ears out, same thing with that medical law suit commercial with the flatline tone.
     

    masterdekoy

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    We just yelled over it. I was a 50 cal gunner and never wore plugs at first. They did start equipping vehicles with comm systems that acted like electronic ear pro. Most vehicle crews in my unit used them so you were protected while mounted. But as soon as you dismount there's no protection.

    My tinnitus isn't too bad most of the time but definitely very noticeable after being around loud noises. I will wear plugs at concerts now because if I don't my ears will ring for weeks. Not sure how much of that is the army vs age/loud music in my car.
     

    CavMedic

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    Luckily I was on a Bradley. We had headsets that helped a lot. That being said when we dismounted we just shouted over it and basically dealt with it.
     

    Nojoy621

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    I was the radio operator for an arty battalion...can't really use ear pro and hear the radio so I just dealt with it. I have hearing loss and tinnitus and I got out at the old age of 26. Can't say I was ever in a serious gun fight, but it's true what they say about you not noticing the noise. A m777 on the other hand, not much can distract you from that sound!
     
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    Trigger Time

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    Your adrenaline kicks in and you don't think about the noise. Also trying to kill whoever is trying to kill you is a factor. You'll be deaf for a while afterwards. Or hopefully you have coms headset on or plugs. But you don't always get to pick when the bad guys shoot at you so you're not always ready. Afterwards the headache you get from hearing damage is headpounding and nauseating and disorienting. Truly sucks

    now I have hearing issues and hearing aids. I rarely wear them, shhh don't tell..
    but you do miss a lot by having hearing damage. I ask for people to please repeat what they said a lot. Ringing or a sort of pounding in my ears is common even just reading my kids a book or anytime a long conversation happens. You deal with it. Just like pain as you know. You get used to it in a weird way. It becomes your own normal. If I can see someone's lips it's better. But I'm not deaf yet.
    constant pain and headaches make you a mean ass hole though, but I'll take that over being in the ground
     
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    Lelliott8

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    Hearing loss is all about the level of noise and the duration. I've heard personal accounts of self-defense shootings that say they didn't even hear their own shots, I assume due to the huge adrenaline dump. I guess that goes away if the gun fight becomes protracted? Interesting thread!
     

    Dave Doehrman

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    50% VA disability for bi-lateral hearing loss
    10% VA Disability for Tinitus

    Have had two different sets of hearing aids but they don't help me at all since my loss is due to nerve damage. The doctors said it's like trying to force water through a knotted up and kinked garden hose. On Jan 21, 1968 I had 1,500 tons of ammo and artillery rounds explode 200 yards from my bunker. On Jan 24th a 122mm rocket scored a direct hit on our bunker. After that tne next 12 months seemed a lot quieter. I didn't really notice the hearing loss until I got back to the States.

    No whining about it though. War happens and pain builds character..........
     

    tenring

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    Tet of '68, 122's coming in. Hit the bunker and hunkered down. Heard one guy ask what was that orange glow, did they get the big fuel tanks [built right next to our living area] ? Raised my head up and looked out, last thing I remembered. Different opinions on cause, whether it was rockets or sappers, but over 5000 500lb. bombs went up and a 7 kiloton blast wave was the result. Told later I "flew" across the bunker and bounced off the end wall. Everyone thought I was dead, until a lot of yelling and face slapping woke me up with a muttered "WTF". Had to have eyes washed out before I could see, OK for years after until all of those bits and pieces of loud noises finally was the straw that broke the camels back. Bad hearing and tinnitus the result. 10% VA disability. Get to wear hearing aids for the rest of my life. Whoopee!
     

    Mgderf

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    I'm a non-combat vet, but I still have hearing loss that is at least in part due to my M.O.S. 6076 Aviation Support Hydraulics/Pneumatics Technician.
    My hearing loss is flight-line related. Those damned F4 Phantoms were LOUD! They also had a very specific tone, a high-pitch whine.
    That high-pitch whine is now a constant reminder that I should have worn hearing protection more religiously.
    I wore them, most of the time.

    Obviously not enough.
    I can not honestly blame it all on aircraft though.
    I'll admit it, I'm a rock-n-roll junky. I like rock music, and a lot of times I like it loud.
    I'd also been shooting/hunting sans hearing protection throughout my youth.
    Recreational shooting, along with rabbit and squirrel hunting for 15 years or so before military service gave me a head-start on hearing loss.

    I have yet to claim a disability, or seek any assistance. I can still function without much problem.
    Still, there are certain sounds/tones/pitches that are mostly unnoticed.

    It's odd though. While I have trouble hearing some tones, others stand out like a sore thumb.
     

    Toole

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    During the rush of adrenaline, you don't notice it. I didn't wear ear pro during deployment as I was a gunner on a HMMWV and we didn't have the headset system on it but I wanted to be able to hear the LT and what my driver were bull****ting or talking about. I also mounted the PLT radio speaker facing up by my feet so I could hear what was going on over the net. And now I have hearing aids and tinnitis like a champ.

    Now, out of the Army, I'm a LAV25 Gunnery and Tactics instructor and we sit on the "suicide seats" mounted on the sides of the turret during their live fire ranges, I wear earpro religiously.
     
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    warthog

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    Thank you all. This was something that I often wondered about, if hearing protection was worn in combat. I thought it would be hard to hear the guy coming up behind you to shoot you so I wasn't sure if you could wear Hearing Protection. I never saw anyone wearing it when I saw the news either. I remember watching news from Vietnam and seeing some of the combat in cities but never seeing anyone with ear plugs or anything. Sure, on an aircraft carrier the jumpsuit guys had ear muffs but that was the only time I saw it.

    Thanks again guys, really.
     
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