Posted on 05/19/2010 7:04:39 AM PDT by laotzu
A major question is swirling around the 13 US service personnel who were killed, and the 30 who were wounded in the Ft. Hood shooting in November.
Central Texas Congressman John Carter (R-Tx), who represents Ft. Hood and Killeen, is introducing a measure in Congress to award the 43 victims of the shooting by Maj. Nadal Hasan the Purple Heart, and the benefits which come from being awarded the decoration.
“All these things are already given to soldiers who are killed or injured in combat,” Carter said, “And I think they should be extended to those soldiers who were killed or injured at Ft. Hood.”
The citation for the Purple Heart, which is the country’s oldest military decoration, and the first combat honor in the world which was granted to soldiers and not simply to officers and commanders, specifically states that to receive the Purple Heart, the recipient must have been killed or wounded ‘in combat.’
“This bill will treat them as if they had been killed or wounded in a combat zone, and will give them the benefits we give to combat casualties,” Carter said.
The problem from the Army’s point of view is that the suspected gunman, Maj. Nadal Hasan, is being handled as a criminal. He is facing 13 specifications of first degree murder and 30 specifications of first degree attempted murder, and is facing a court martial, possibly later this year. If Hasan is convicted, the Army says it will seek the death penalty.
If the victims of Hasan’s rampage are reclassified as combat casualties, miltiary authorities are afraid that would open the door for Hasan to claim he is an ‘enemy combatant,’ which would forbid the government from placing him on trial and would grant him privileges under the Geneva Convention for Prisoners of War.
Hasan allegedly opened fire on soldiers and their families at a mustering station at Ft. Hood on November 5th. He is charged with firing indiscriminately at military personnel who were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, due to his concerns about being deployed into the war zone.
No.
He’s not a criminal, a POW, or an enemy combatant. He’s an ILLEGAL COMBATANT. He should be held in prison until the Jihad is OVER.
And all those he killed or wounded should get the Purple Heart, of course.
Help me out here... doesn't this
(6) After 28 March 1973, as a result of an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack by the Secretary of the Army, or jointly by the Secretaries of the separate armed services concerned if persons from more than one service are wounded in the attack.
apply?
I don’t believe that Major Hassan would be considered a an ‘international terrorist attack’. Under any stretch of the imagination.
Major Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army psychologist, other than being a follower of the Muslim religion, has no known ties to international terrorist groups. Plus he is not an international terrorist plot ... he went on a shooting rampage, pure and simple.
I see no way the shootings at Fort Hood would qualify as ‘an international terrorist attack against the United States ‘.
American citizen.
American soldier.
If it can be shown that he was working at the behest of a foreign enemy as a traitor to the US, does that make this an "international terrorist attack"?
I'm not advocating either way. As a scroungy non-reg, I leave it to the military to make the determination.
Sounds reasonable. As I said in my post to SJSAMPLE, the people who put their lives on the line in our military are the ones that should make this decision. I have not earned the right to weigh in.
I agree. Nearly 30 years in the military has taught me well how to read there regulations.
Our men an women in uniform need our support and should always know we support them without hesitation or question.
I believe our government, the Administration, and it’s oversight of the military failed our men and women in uniform on this atrocity.
I am patiently awaiting the day this murderer, excuse me alleged murderer meets the firing squad.
No Combat Action Ribbon, they didn’t shoot back.
The victims weren’t killed in action, but they were killed by enemy action.
One other thing about CARs. We did not earn them in Somalia even though we were in plenty of firefights. The reason, it was considered a humanitarian mission and not a combat mission. Could have fooled me.
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