Is this the second Purple Heart medal given out or is there more that have been hushed up? I cannot believe that this is only the second Us Soldier maimed or killed since the battles against Al Qeida and the Taliban started.Considering the amount of enemy wounded or killed.The first casualty was the Special Forces guy at the Mazaar prison in the north of Afganistan. The latest casualty will get a heroes welcome home.(postomustly)
No, Mike Spann, a CIA guy was killed in Mazar-i-Sharef. Others have been killed by "friendly" fire. This is the first MILITARY soldier killed by enemy fire. . .
CIA officer Mike Spann, in this undated family photo, is the first American known to be killed in combat in Afghanistan. Johnny ``Mike'' Spann, 32, who entered the Marine Corps and then joined the CIA in June 1999, was killed in action during a prison riot at Mazar-e-Sharif. His body was recovered Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001 the CIA said, without providing details on the circumstances of Spann's death. (AP Photo/Family Photo via the CIA) No, Mike Spann, a CIA guy was killed in Mazar-i-Sharef. Others have been killed by "friendly" fire. This is the first MILITARY soldier killed by enemy fire. . . A couple of things,here. The first is that Spann did NOT earn a Purple Heart. Unless he had been "sheep dipped",he was a civilian working for the CIA when he died. The only people who get Purple Hearts are active-duty military members.
The second thing is that you do NOT have to die to get a PH. You only have to be wounded due to enemy action. In some units even that wasn't neccessary. There are people in support units who have put themselves in for PH's for being injured in jeep accidents while in a war zone,and received them.