[Yosemitest]

Have you ever thought that he might have throat damage from his injuries?
Remember he said:

"After losing my right leg and part of my right arm and fingers and disfigured on my face,
I come to a country that, after lying in a bed at Walter Reed, I'm lying there, and I'm listening to the gentleman who was next to me.
He was a lieutenant in the Army. He was all screwed up, too."

[Pelham]

He didn’t mention throat damage. So you’re arguing from silence.