Posted on 05/29/2008 12:57:57 PM PDT by KatyLoraleyVidales
I ran across an article in the Army Times regarding the issuing of giving Purple Hearts to individuals suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sustained during combat. This appears to be the origin of much debate…
It seems to be that many members of the military want to continue distributing the award based on "singularly meritorious act of fidelity service" and that "a wound which necessitates treatment by a medical officer and which is received in action with an enemy, may, in the judgment of the commander authorized to make the award, be construed as resulting from a singularly meritorious act of essential service”.
Although I do think that PTSD is a side effect of battle, and deserves as much attention as other combat related injuries, I do not believe that a Purple Heart should be award solely on that basis. Personally, a few members of my family have been diagnosed with PTSD & they agree that what they endured during battle, does not warrant a Purple Heart.
It is my opinion that another medal, if the case need be, should be created to honor those individuals, but simply sticking them under the umbrella of the Purple Heart recipients, does not work to fit what George Washington meant when he created it.
John Stavast survived nine different North Vietnamese POW camps over his six years in captivity…
G.R. Williams was at Pearl Harbour, aboard the battleship West Virginia during the day that will forever live in infamy …
Roy Benavidez a Purple Heart & Medal of Honor recipient, came out of the Vietnam War as the most decorated veteran who served during that time.
Let us know what you think…at RightUpFront.Org...should the requirements for the Purple Heart be changed to include servicemen and women suffering from PTSD?
(Excerpt) Read more at rightupfront.org ...
No they have not decided to award the PH for PTSD just yet, it’s merely in discussion.
One does not just "get" a PTSD disability- or any other VA disability. There is paperwork involved; which he had to sign. If he felt he was not entitled he should have declined.
In my dealings with the VA, you sign the papers and they rule from on high.
Three war vet or thirty war vet, at some point he was asked to sign papers- if he did not agree with what was determined he had the right to decline. In fact, every such award letter or subsequent letter regarding the claim includes a form for appeal of the decision. He had to be a party to such a decision- there is no way it was forced upon him. If he doesn’t have PTSD, he should not take the money. Period.
Your points are well made, and your ‘testimonials’ especially valid! One example of a PTSD patient is someone who suffers simply because he ‘came back’, while his best friend lies in a coffin! His best friend got a Purple Heart, well deserved. Imagine what would go thru the mind of that PTSD patient when told he would be getting a purple heart as well! How would that possibly be conducive to ‘sanity’? I visualize a bitterness beyond measure were such a medal proposed.
Yes, treat PTSD as any injury...it’s not a wound, nope. I dare say everyone who ‘comes back’ leaves a little part of him behind...just some more than others!
There was an earlier thread on this subject and was almost unanimous in rejecting the idea!
I know a lot more than you think about the VA claims process and I can assure you that he has not only the right but an obligation to tell the VA if he indeed does not have PTSD and is indeed collecting benefits for it. Collecting benefits for a condition that one does not have is fraud.
BTW, I am not your “dear woman”
As a senior NCO let me say authoritatively that the Purple heart is NOT being given for PTSD.
One possible reason for approaching this as a purple heart issue is not to give purple hearts per se but to define the PTSD as a combat related injury. I don’t know a single soldier who would accept the purple heart for PTSD but those that do have it would like to have it diagnosed and treated. Not asking for a free ride, just want to get put back to normal before they get put out of the service.
Currently some posts are pushing soldiers out of the military who are suffering from PTSD. They are misdiagnosing it as a “pre-existing personality disorder”. This keeps the posts numbers down and also saves money... at the expense of the warrior who served honorably.
As a senior NCO I have a real problem with that. If my soldiers get broken in combat they are OWED the best treatment, anything less is unacceptable.
Interesting - you’d give my soldiers who have PTSD a little pink heart? I think you’ve been watching Patton too much. Perhaps you have them characterized as little sissies. I’d LOVE To see you hand one of them a little pink heart.
For the record I’ve got several troops who are here in Afghanistan with me right now, bravely serving with PTSD - they have problems sleeping, they get the shakes sometimes, they get ill but they are here for their third and in some cases fourth tour and are still hanging in there.
Next time you see some vets coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan, how about standing there at the airport with some little pink hearts to give to the PTSD sufferers? Go ahead, I dare you.
I am currently serving my fourth tour in Bagram. All four times volunteered. I completely agree with you about the PTSD. I would not hand them a pink heart, but I would also not hand them a purple heart. A purple heart is SUPPOSED to go to a person wounded by enemy fire, or as a result of enemy actions, directly or indirectly. Friendly fire does not constitute a purple heart. We just a fallen comrade ceremony a few days ago for a soldier who shot himself by accident. He was goofing off with his gun, and darwin’s law was enforced. He isn’t going to get a purple heart. Had he been killed/injured by ENEMY fire, yes, he would.
This story about ptsd after burning crap in a barrel is bs and this individual ought to be severely punished, not awarded. I was here when we first took Bagram, and spent plenty of time burning crap, before we got pj’s. It was not that traumatic. You couldn’t even smell the crap over the diesel fumes. haha.
From one SNCO to antother: Read the Air Force or Army Times. They are actually, seriously, considering it. Not happening yet, but in today’s AF/AR, it really would not surprise me.
A lot of this “PTSD” is likely after effects of all the drugs they give us over here. Hell, in ‘06 a buddy of mine, after returning from AFG would not go to sleep before his wife. If he did, when she came to bed, it would startle him awake, and before he realized it was her he was attacking her. After six months this went away. The docs blame it on the malaria pills they make us take. I personally have some really effed up dreams from them.
I have to agree. PTSD has killed many a veterain in it’s day,and still is today.
Give them the “Heart”.
And sadly, it has also killed some family members of veterans.
Actually, "friendly fire" does merit a Purple Heart as long as it falls into the "heat of battle - fog of war" category.
Carelessness outside of battle such as "goofing off with a gun", however, does not merit a Purple Heart.
He was in in VN on S**t Burning Detail for a year? He earned it
I was on SBD one day,late in the day when Charlie decided to lob
a mortar at the fire we had going.
We said at the time this is one sh***y way to die
My dad earned a PH in WW2,he`d set off a metal detector at the airport
Where we were they would be in a bowl at the start of the mess
hall line.We were never ordered to take em and I never volunteered
a lot for things.Got ordered enough
Those things were experimental and we were the Guinea pigs
This Pisses me off to no end. I have been diagnosed with “Extreme PTSD” and am also a MEDEVAC due to injuries sustained in Iraq. Being stationed where I am, was the result of these injuries sustained in OIF 3. I am a member of the Wounded Warrior BN located at a base in TX. PTSD is diagnosed for civilians who have been in vehicle accidents as well. In the military, soldiers are claiming PTSD in order to get a retirement. The Order of the Purple Heart was designed for physical injuries sustained in Combat. PTSD is a Disorder, not an injury. BTW, it has been over 2 years, and my PH still has not been processed of reviewed. I may or may not even get it, so I am writing this un-biased.
Sorry. I disagree. Might be easy for you to say. But, as the saying goes... Till you walk a mile in my (Boots)shoes..... This is not something that I have asked for, nor wanted. I have also heard from some that it doesn’t exsist, and is a made up diagnosis. Depending on the job, position and actions in combat the degrees of this is different for all. I am here to tell you that it does exsist. However, it does not nor ever should be classified with a Purple Heart Medal.
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