Purple Heart for PTSD - Page 2
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  1. #16
    Just a true Marine brother he has paid his dues, Semper FI.


  2. #17

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by E5NAMKROW
    Can you explain your thumbs down?


  4. #19
    Group says PTSD doesn’t merit Purple Heart
    By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
    Mideast edition, Wednesday, May 14, 2008



    The veterans group for combat wounded troops whose mission is to preserve the integrity of the Purple Heart has come out against giving the award to troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

    "I don’t think people should get the Purple Heart for almost getting wounded," said Joe Palagyi, of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

    PTSD does not merit the Purple Heart, according to an Army regulation that lays out the criteria for the award.

    Recently, a military psychologist at Fort Bliss, Texas, told reporters during a roundtable that making troops with PTSD eligible for the Purple Heart could help destigmatize the disorder.

    "These guys have paid at least a high — as high a price, some of them — as anybody with a traumatic brain injury, as anybody with shrapnel wound, and what it does is it says this is the wound that isn’t worthy, and I say it is," said John E. Fortunato.

    When asked about Fortunato’s suggestion later, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called it an "interesting idea," adding the matter is "clearly something that needs to be looked into."

    But Palagyi, who was awarded the Purple Heart for service in Vietnam, said PTSD does not meet the standards for the award, the forerunner of which was established by Gen. George Washington.

    "The Purple Heart was set up for combat wounds, for those who have shed blood, and I believe that although PTSD is a physical disease and is an injury ... [it] does not qualify for the merit of Purple Heart based on that," he said Tuesday.

    Injuries that merit the Purple Heart must happen in a combat theater and must be a direct result of enemy action, said Jack Leonard, also of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

    The group’s concern about PTSD is that it can be caused by other factors, not necessarily the enemy.

    "Did it occur in boot camp? Did it occur because of the rough air flight into theater? Or did it occur because an individual saw the results of the Taliban massacre of a village? I can’t answer that," said Leonard, who was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in Vietnam.

    Stars and Stripes called the medical center where Fortunato works for a response, but a spokesman there referred questions to Army Human Resources Command, adding that Fortunato should not have commented on the Purple Heart in the first place because the issue is "out of our medical lane."

    Leonard said he does not mean to downplay war’s psychological injuries, recounting how he is sure how his father suffered from PTSD after fighting in World War II with the Marines.

    "Like a flash in a pan, he would reach out and I mean full-force smack with a balled fist, without any indication that it was going to happen, and you’d go, ‘What the hell — what the hell just happened?’ as you picked yourself off the floor," Leonard said.

    He said his father, who also served in the Korean War and was close to suicide at the end of his life, was never awarded the Purple Heart.

    Asked if his father should have been given the award, Leonard said no.

    "There’s no physical manifestation of — that he ever shed blood," Leonard said.

    Ellie


  5. #20
    Marine Free Member FistFu68's Avatar
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    IF YOU WANT THE MUTHA ****ER THAT BAD,YOU CAN HAVE MINE;NEVER WANTED ONE ANYWAY.BUT IT CAME AT A VERY HIGH PRICE,PIECES OF MY CHIT GETTING BLOWN AWAY.HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SAME EVER SINCE!!!SAW MANY A GOOD MARINE PUT IN A PONCHO,WHO EARNED THE PURPLE HEART THE HARD WAY.


  6. #21
    OK, what if a soldier is in a combat zone but never actually engages the enemy but is diagnosed with PTSD, Purple Heart? General Washington would roll over in his grave!!!!!!!!!!!!


  7. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by FISTFU68
    IF YOU WANT THE MUTHA ****ER THAT BAD,YOU CAN HAVE MINE;NEVER WANTED ONE ANYWAY.BUT IT CAME AT A VERY HIGH PRICE,PIECES OF MY CHIT GETTING BLOWN AWAY.HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SAME EVER SINCE!!!SAW MANY A GOOD MARINE PUT IN A PONCHO,WHO EARNED THE PURPLE HEART THE HARD WAY.
    Well said MARINE!


  8. #23
    If they were to give a PH for PTSD why stop at the military?
    Every Cop, Paramedic, Firefighter, EMT and ER doc & nurse oughta get one.

    I never saw combat...didn't even finish MCRD due to busted ankles...but as an EMT later on I saw, touched, picked up, and scraped up plenty of the dead and barely living, men, women, teens, and even little kids alike. On a couple occaisions even had to "physically restrain" (aka fight) a guy with bits of himself coming out of himself.

    It was enough to give a person enough scary dreams for a lifetime.

    But none of it was done for the sake of defending my country, I never put myself in the line of fire knowing I might be killed or wounded.

    PTSD is not a military / combat injury, therefore keep the PH for the combat wounds only.


  9. #24
    Unfortantly the Purple Heart has already been descraced. Doesn't
    John Kerry have one?


  10. #25
    Don't dishonor the PH, or the Marines that wear it! They didn't ask for it. They earned it!


  11. #26
    Have both, and they are not the same thing.


  12. #27
    If they give a PH to the military for PTSD, then they'll have to have a similar award for every police officer, firefighter, paramedic or EMT.

    I never saw combat, but was seriously injured in boot camp (broke both ankles and got sent home) got no medal for being clumsy...didn't deserve one.

    Years later as an EMT I saw enough death, destruction, tension, horror and just plain gross stuff, and yes had guns pointed at me, crazy dogs try to bite me and had to resucitate a couple little kids near death. It was enough to give anyone nightmares and long term PTSD if you couldn't find a way to de-crazy it.

    But I was never in combat, and never been shot, blown up, or seen my comrades have such happen. Therefore, no medal.

    The Purple Heart is for physical combat injuries not PTSD which a person can get from almost any scary event...I mean come on...there's some scary movies out there that can give folks PTSD but that's certainly not worth a medal.

    I don't want to downplay PTSD, but it is not a combat injury...it is a psychological issue. If they really have it...the VA will take care of them and potentially treat them for the rest of their lives if it's bad enough.

    Leave the medal for those who gave their flesh and blood.


  13. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by BasilSands
    If they give a PH to the military for PTSD, then they'll have to have a similar award for every police officer, firefighter, paramedic or EMT.

    I never saw combat, but was seriously injured in boot camp (broke both ankles and got sent home) got no medal for being clumsy...didn't deserve one.

    Years later as an EMT I saw enough death, destruction, tension, horror and just plain gross stuff, and yes had guns pointed at me, crazy dogs try to bite me and had to resucitate a couple little kids near death. It was enough to give anyone nightmares and long term PTSD if you couldn't find a way to de-crazy it.

    But I was never in combat, and never been shot, blown up, or seen my comrades have such happen. Therefore, no medal.

    The Purple Heart is for physical combat injuries not PTSD which a person can get from almost any scary event...I mean come on...there's some scary movies out there that can give folks PTSD but that's certainly not worth a medal.

    I don't want to downplay PTSD, but it is not a combat injury...it is a psychological issue. If they really have it...the VA will take care of them and potentially treat them for the rest of their lives if it's bad enough.

    Leave the medal for those who gave their flesh and blood.
    This part of your post says it all.


  14. #29
    Defense group mulling Purple Heart for PTSD
    By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
    Pacific edition, Saturday, May 17, 2008



    ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Department Awards Advisory Group is considering awarding the Purple Heart to troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

    Right now, the regulation that outlines the criteria for the Purple Heart lists PTSD as an injury that does not merit the award, along with trench foot, heat stroke and self-inflicted wounds.

    The issue came up during Defense Secretary Robert Gates' recent visit to Texas, when a military psychologist at Fort Bliss told reporters that making troops suffering from PTSD eligible for the Purple Heart would help remove the stigma surrounding the disorder.

    Asked about the matter afterward at a news conference at Red River Army Depot, Texas, Gates replied: "It's an interesting idea. I think it's clearly something that needs to be looked at."

    On Thursday, Morrell said the advisory group was looking into whether PTSD merits the Purple Heart.

    "I should point out they've looked at this before, and they determined — they determined that it was not appropriate to make PTSD a qualification for the Purple Heart," Morrell said at a news conference.

    The group does not have a timetable to produce a recommendation on the issue, Morrell said.

    The awards group is made up of awards experts from the services and the Defense Department, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a Defense Department Spokesman. The issue was referred to the group after Gates' remarks in Texas.

    A group that represents veterans wounded in combat has said it opposes the idea of making PTSD an injury that qualifies for the Purple Heart.

    Jack Leonard, of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said in a recent interview that PTSD can be caused by factors other than enemy action.

    "Did it occur in boot camp? Did it occur because of the rough air flight into theater? Or did it occur because an individual saw the results of the Taliban massacre of a village? I can't answer that," said Leonard, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient.

    But John E. Fortunate, the psychologist who made the suggestion at Fort Bliss, said PTSD is partially a physical disorder because it damages the brain, making it no different than shrapnel wounds.

    "These guys have paid at least a high — as high a price, some of them — as anybody with a traumatic brain injury, as anybody with shrapnel wound, and what it does is it says this is the wound that isn't worthy, and I say it is," he said during Gates' visit.

    Ellie


  15. #30

    Purple Heart

    The Purple Heart is issued not only for combat wounds, but is presented to survivors upon the KIA of their Warrior. I do agree those civil servents providing service at the risk of their lives deserve something, let their national Hq. design some for all.


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