Deafness in Veterans

[NH Civil War Gal]

From the National Museum of Civil War Medicine (with permission)

With muskets and cannon firing for hours on end, it's hard to imagine how soldiers were able to hear anything after a Civil War battle. Over time, this intense noise left lasting damage.

In the years following the conflict, pension records show that roughly 33% of US Army veterans reported some form of hearing loss. Of those cases, the majority (roughly 70%) reported hearing loss on their left side, consistent with noise-induced damage caused by a right-handed individual firing a rifle.

Source:
Sewell RK; Song C; Bauman NM; Smith RJ; Blanck P; "Hearing Loss in Union Army Veterans from 1862 to 1920," The Laryngoscope, U.S. National Library of Medicine, <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15564835/>.

Image credit:
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, June 1864, Library of Congress.

 

[1SGDan]

This is an interesting topic to me. All wars are extremely noisy. Even when actions are taken to prevent hearing loss it still occurs. I was forced to retire from the US Army for hearing loss during my deployments to Iraq. I am one of over 300,000 soldiers that are suing 3M for supplying faulty ear plugs.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Sailors, especially those who worked in the engine room of their various ships, were also likely to develop hearing loss in later years.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Sailors, especially those who worked in the engine room of their various ships, were also likely to develop hearing loss in later years.

And some Air Force personnel (flight and ground crews) too.

 

[Old Soldier]

It was one of the results of war. It was nearly always problem with artillerymen and often seen as a 'battle honor'. It was always recognised as such and, sometimes, provisions made for individuals. It has been the case since the introduction of black power - gunpowder - in its many forms and uses. It was a common cause of deafness in anyone associated with explosives, especially miners, too.

Personal experience - As a cadet in the Army Cadet Force in the UK in the 1960s firing the old No4 and, very occasionally a LMG (Bren), we did not wear ear defenders on the range, so I do know how loud ball ammunition sounds. After 1970, ear defenders were introduced - even for 22LR on indoor ranges - and, despite regular army service and a long sojourn in the Territorial Army, I have not heard a gunshot without them since. (blank does not count!) NO. I am not deaf or hearing impaired.

 

[gjpratt]

I have a slightly different experience. On a sporting clay range I moved the right muff off to talk before my turn and forgot to place it back on before my turn. One 12 gauge shot caused permanent slight to moderate hearing impairment in that ear. Nonstop tinnitus and loss of high frequency range hearing. In my 60s.

 

[John Winn]

In my research projects of CW veterans buried in 'my' cemetery I've come across quite a few who had hearing loss from their wartime service. I think it was pretty common.

And speaking of modern firearm hearing loss, that's how I didn't end up drafted into the Marine Corps during the Tet offensive. As a young, non-thinking, man I used to shoot often and never wore hearing protection. In July I turned 18 and several months afterward was drafted. When I went for my physical I failed the hearing test (but they made me take it four times; just to make sure I guess). So, I got a 1Y draft rating (in time of national emergency only) and walked out. All the guys who went through the physical with me ended up in the Marine Corps. Oh, and I was a pretty good shot.

 

[limestone1863]

As a Vietnam vet-HUH! What!

 

[Copperhead-mi]

Vietnam. Got tinnitus as a gunner on a M-113 APC in an armored cav unit of the the Big Red One, then next tour as a crew chief/gunner on a Huey with an Assault Helicopter company of the 1st Aviation Brigade down in the Mekong Delta. Years after leaving the service, I somehow passed my hearing exam to become a police officer and did that for a number of years while also working part-time as a gunsmith. The years around gunfire with and without protective ear covering finally took its toll, for I became completely deaf in my left ear about 4 years ago and still have the tinnitus.

 

[John Winn]

Vietnam. Got tinnitus as a gunner on a M-113 APC in an armored cav unit of the the Big Red One, then next tour as a crew chief/gunner on a Huey with an Assault Helicopter company of the 1st Aviation Brigade down in the Mekong Delta. Years after leaving the service, I somehow passed my hearing exam to become a police officer and did that for a number of years while also working part-time as a gunsmith. The years around gunfire with and without protective ear covering finally took its toll, for I became completely deaf in my left ear about 4 years ago and still have the tinnitus.

I have mild tinnitus and high-range total loss in both ears. Other than that, though, I can still hear. And I used to shoot competitively in the 80s (but did use hearing protection) so probably should be more deaf than I am. I'm still happy I avoided Vietnam but I would have gone had I passed.

I've got some funny stories about times when I didn't hear high-pitched things that others could hear clearly but don't want to derail this thread.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

My father had severe hearing loss from severe concussive noises at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard during WWII. He had, for those times, a high-tech, high-security job, (I still have his photo ID card to get into the shipyard and treasure it) working the giant cranes that ran on train tracks and lifted and moved the submarines. He had arthritis from his 20s onwards and his hands had huge knuckles, so he couldn't get in the service as much as he tried. But he was an engineer and he knew big machinery and very few knew that. Like someone said upstream, "wars are extremely noisy." Well, shipyards in wartime are extremely noisy with CONSTANT concussive noises happening all around. My father was 45 when I was born and I never knew my father NOT being pretty deaf. I remember asking him about hearing protection and he said, "it was never thought of." Despite his arthritis in his hands, he finally got into the SeaBees and was getting ready to go to the South Pacific and the bomb dropped. He never went and was disappointed.

 

[Old Soldier]

Well, shipyards in wartime are extremely noisy with CONSTANT concussive noises happening all around.

The same thing applied to the shipbuilders and boilermakers who used riveters, before welding became the norm.