PTSD is not a Purple Heart injury.
And I concur with them.
The Air Force and Navy Times newspapers are running articles about CONSIDERING this, but I was not aware that a decision had been made, one way or the other.
My opinion, whatever little it's worth, is that this is bogus; I have a son-in-law, an Air Force PJ (combat EMT) who was badly injured in a CH-47 crash in Afghanistan and, since it was due to equipment failure, not direct enemy action (although the reason they were in the air WAS as a direct result of enemy action), he does not get a Purple Heart. You oughtta see his scars and the xrays of the number of bones they put back together with titanium rods!!
Not only that, but he was so busted up after the crash that couldn't help a fellow serviceman who was begging for my son-in-law's help, by name, as he died; my son-in-law was forced to lay there in the wreckage and listen to his buddy pass away. What a bi*ch!
....but no Purple Heart....
Kerry could have gotten 4 purple hearts
Thankfully I’m not the ruling authority on this one, because itis a tough call...but I think ultimately I’d have to decide against it. Establishing that the PTSD was the direct result of enemy action would be next to impossible, and the retroactive claims from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Lebanon, Somalia, etc. would be an administrative nightmare.
I don’t think this should be done. create a different one for ptsd. ph is for spilled blood in enemy action. it’ just that simple.
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!
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.