Almost half of new vets seeking disability benefits

FILE - In this Thursday, April 26, 2012 file photo, former President George W. Bush shakes hands with retired U.S. Army 1st Lt. Melissa Stockwell at the end of the Bush Center Warrior 100K Race at Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Amarillo, Texas. Bush hosted the 100-kilometer mountain bike ride for military members wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for disabilities they say are service-related - more than double the 21 percent who filed such claims after some previous wars, according to top government officials. The new veterans have different types of injuries than previous veterans did, in part because improvised bombs have been the main weapon and because body armor and improved battlefield care allowed many of them to survive wounds that in past wars proved fatal. (AP Photo/The Amarillo Globe News, Roberto Rodriguez, File)