Semper Fidelis
Dick Gaines
**********
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.
phv**! the facts and feed yez f!sh!
:)
right Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Etc.
wot would Chesty say!
Then declare CONUS as a combat zone and we’ll get this fight rolling.
The country is in a war on terror and the those soldiers were killed and wounded by a terrorist. Terrorists have been plotting to attack our military bases for years, Fort Hood was just their first successful attack. I think those people deserve to be awarded a purple heart.
>“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. “
If he were classified as an enemy combatant and was wearing a U.S. military uniform, how would that not make him a spy, and mean his swift and most thorough execution? It doesn’t seem to me that he would come close to meeting the criteria for Geneva Convention treatment.<
The above is why Zero won’t allow it.
If it is a crime of treason, the Purple Heart is appropriate, as is the execution of the traitor.
The victims were shot or killed fighting the war on terror. I would give them the purple heart.
And to add: Hasan was representing (whether the state-run media and their masters in the White House agree) a world-wide terror organization, because he received indoctrination from a member of it.
Semper Fidelis
Dick Gaines
**********
The Hague Convention, precursor to the Geneva Convention, has this definition:
Art. 29. A person can only be considered a spy when, acting clandestinely or on false pretences, he obtains or endeavours to obtain information in the zone of operations of a belligerent, with the intention of communicating it to the hostile party.
"Thus, soldiers not wearing a disguise who have penetrated into the zone of operations of the hostile army, for the purpose of obtaining information, are not considered spies. Similarly, the following are not considered spies: Soldiers and civilians, carrying out their mission openly, entrusted with the delivery of despatches intended either for their own army or for the enemy's army. To this class belong likewise persons sent in balloons for the purpose of carrying despatches and, generally, of maintaining communications between the different parts of an army or a territory."
end excerpt.
Spies may be shot. Q.E.D.
*****
“
Should the Ft. Hood Shooting Victims Receive the Purple Heart?
“
Victims in the war of terror; location doesn’t matter to me.
IMHO (as a never-served civilian)...give them the medal.
“Domestic terrorism, not warfare. The Purple Heart was created for a specific reason, but not this reason.”
I don’t agree with your opinion....
The Purple Heart is Awarded for: “Being wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces”
You call it “domestic terrorism”, I call it an enemy of the United States attacking a target of opportunity.
I fully agree.
“If it is a crime of treason, the Purple Heart is appropriate, as is the execution of the traitor.”
Hasan commited an act of war, while being treasonous. Is there a question on these facts?
You need to read up a little on the Purple Heart.
This 1973 amendment to the criteria makes it clear - these soldiers deserve the Purple Heart - Without Question.
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. After 28 March 1973, as a result of military operations while serving outside the territory of the United States as part of a peacekeeping force.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Heart
Gee, thanks. Read it YEARS AGO.
Also, see Post 29.
“international terrorist attack”.
American born.
American citizen.
American soldier.
Criteria in Full
Per United States Army regulations, the Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after April 5, 1917, has been wounded or killed, or who has died after being wounded. Specific examples of services which warrant the Purple Heart include any action against an enemy of the United States; any action with an opposing armed force of a foreign country in which the Armed Forces of the United States are or have been engaged; while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party; as a result of an act of any such enemy of opposing armed forces; or as the result of an act of any hostile foreign force. 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. After 28 March 1973, as a result of military operations while serving outside the territory of the United States as part of a peacekeeping force.
See Post 29, from the Army reg.
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