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What Really Needs to be Said About Purple Heart, Purple Haze
Purple Heart, Purple Haze [Source Link]
By Simon Maxwell Apter: “By honoring the psychological wounds of soldiers–not shaming them–the armed forces might give fighting men and women the respect they deserve.”
Not intended to be a turnoff, because I almost was until I read beyond the first paragraph, I must say upfront that I have an problem with both Apter’s and Maraniss’s accurate use of an incident that allegedly occurred during Vietnam involving General Westmoreland’s attitude toward soldier that were not wounded in combat as being slackers and fakers. My first reaction was questioning the accuracy of this report even if I believed Westmoreland had such an attitude. Heck that attitude about severity of wounds still
(Front cover of book by Mike Hager) exists today, and it is not limited to flag or general officers, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and like Americanism organization are a case in point.
It is the rest of the story that really matters and is accurate. See the end of the article for my views on what really did happen with the so-called Westmoreland yelling Fakers incident in Nam. If you are a Nam Vet be sure to read my commentary, because the book Mr. Apter refers to is being made into a major motion picture to be released in 2010.
Robert L. Hanafin
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
Staff Writer, Veterans Today
What really needs to be said about, Purple Heart, Purple Haze.
I agree with Mr. Apter’s views on the Pentagon and the apathetic attitude towards those with PTSD that enhance the stigma rather than deal with it head on. “Now that the Pentagon has ruled explicitly to exclude victims of post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) from eligibility for the Purple Heart medal–unless, of course, they have PTSD in addition to some other bleeding or broken or punctured malady–it seems that…callousness, out of touch forty years ago, still pervades the armed forces. Unless you bleed–really bleed–then you’re a "faker."
I believe he could have used a better choice of words than band of brothers given the 21st century Armed Forces has had in increase of female troops at least five fold since Vietnam, but that’s part of the story he leaves out. The "band of brothers" within the armed forces is taking a decidedly unbrotherly view of the debate over the Purple Heart, as comrades in combat have taken to implicitly rating their "brothers’" wounds: if there’s not enough gore involved, then the awarding of the medal becomes the subject of tawdry pettiness. “ Apter says. 
Well, this is the attitude that I’m referring to and cases in point are the Swift boating of John Kerry, and the Purple Heart Band Aid incident at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Highlighting this callous attitude are unfounded views like "Every badge hunter and his brother will have this distinguished award in their sights," Army Captain Matthew Nichols wrote in a letter to…Stars and Stripes last spring, when the specter of thousands of emotionally wounded teenaged and twenty something veterans became an issue too pressing to ignore" according to Mr. Apter.
This is of course part of the Stolen Valor argument or claim that fake veterans and medal hunters fell out of the sky during and after Vietnam. That attitude maintains quite falesly that fakers are continuing to fall outta the skie over Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Give me a break Captain, that’s what Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act for to prevent such a flood of Link above to info on fakes via prosecution the Stolen Valor Act. what more do you we "really" want? What were the real political motives behind both the book Stolen Valor and the Congressional Act that BTW was promoted by a right of center (they prefer to be called moderate) Democrat. Go figure. Major Hanafin.
Mr. Apter notes that, “Joe Palagyi, national adjutant of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, equated psychological trauma to "almost getting wounded."
Well that of course rings of John Kerry almost earned his medals, or worse yet did not earn them at all, and encourages distasteful purple heart band aids, let’s not forget Max Cleland’s wound being self inflicted plus Max being a Muslin lover, last but not least John McCain got special treatment and collaborated with the enemy during captivity – ALL STOLEN VALOR LIES FOR POLITICAL GAIN – NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS!!! (Major Hanafin)
As Mr. Apter says, “in other words, if a soldier’s postwar life is emotionally shattered directly because of his service to his or her country, then it’s their own damn unsoldierly fault; any heroism or quick thinking that led to one’s almost–as opposed to actually–getting wounded is not triumphant but rather a gateway to mockery.”
The Stolen Valor book, attitude, political strategy, and lingering attitude among some older Veterans does more contributing to STIGMA than dealing with it.
Timing and Attitude
Mr. Apter does have an insightful view of timing and attitude from a professional medical-mental health viewpoint. “The Department of Defense’s ruling comes at an odd time. By 2007, only two states–Idaho and Wyoming–didn’t maintain some sort of mental health parity law (complete, limited or otherwise), and companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) were using thirty-second advertising spots to promote–and then promise the cure for–a raft of psychological afflictions. In GSK’s case, a frequently aired campaign glossed the symptoms of social anxiety disorder and then promoted Paxil as a remedy. Those Dickensian stigmas associated with psychological disease, it would seem, were receding: you wouldn’t make fun of a fellow on crutches; why make fun of one on Klonopin? Moreover, in a sidebar to the ’08-’09 economic crisis, the $700 billion bailout package passed by Congress in October also included the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, which, when implemented nationally in 2010, will require insurers to treat (and pay for) mental afflictions on a par with physical afflictions. Even insurers in Idaho and Wyoming will have to pay for a couple of Effexor or Clonazepam prescriptions here and there.”
But despite having its own in-house military Mental Health professionals, Apter notes that, “the armed forces don’t take such a tolerant view of mental hygiene. The problem, according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a Pentagon-supported group, is that awarding the decoration for psychological afflictions would "debase" the medal, like a kid watering down the lemonade so he can make more profit. After all, how would an amputee feel if he had to share his honor with someone who’s merely suffering from a shattered psyche? It simply wouldn’t be fair. Then again, it’s not really fair to have our veterans searching for solace in suicide, either, which is what’s happening at an increasingly alarming rate among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. A 2007 CBS News investigation deemed suicide to be "epidemic" among returning veterans, which found their suicide rates to be twice that of non-veterans.”
Here too I have a slight problem with Apter’s passion and accuracy, I do not believe that the MOPH is a Pentagon-supported group. That claim is misleading unless Mr. Apter clarifies what he means by Pentagon-supported? The American Legion, VFW, MOPH, may have access to give input and feedback to DOD, and even provide support to the Pentagon via Americanism (Nationalistic Patriotism or extremism) and serious support for troops as long as they are combat troops, but no Veterans Service Organization is financially or otherwise supported by the Pentagon. The closest they have come to being so is America Supports Bush.mil, and we all know how credible that organization still is. Major Hanafin.
Speaking of which, let’s throw a monkey wrench in MOPH’s definition and attitude toward the Purple Heart. Their traditionalist contention tends to be one has to have been in contact or combat with the enemy and suffered wounds as a result. THIS IS FOR OUR FEMALE READERS OUT THERE. Technically under than definition, women in the Armed Forces should not and cannot be awarded the Purple Heart. How many women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have been awarded the purple heart as an exception to the rule? Very few, but some.
Our society, and the Pentagon for that matter (to include the Army, andof course the Marines) makes it a policy that women in the Armed Forces are not placed in combat units. (Armor comes to mind guess due to the close quarters with males or whatever reason, in fact rationale may be valid. That’s not the point.) Thus, despite the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan having relatively few if any non-combat zones or safe areas for women, and tanks are only good for static roadblocks per se due to the collateral civilian damage they can do, the MOPH must either exclude women from receiving the Purple Heart or change their views to reflect the 21st century realities of combat. Realities that given the overwhelming presence of women, VSOs of 19th and 20th century macho mentality cannot relate to.
Every argument we’ve heard, really excuses, about either granting or denying dignified recognition of PTSD or wounds for that matter have totally ignored the fact that women continue to play a more significant role in our volunteer Armed Forces, than anytime in history of the nation, and in combat however defined despite technicalities that downplay their role. Put another way, I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see by necessity, not desire, women in Armor Units inside tanks along side male comrades at arms. Not because our society desires it or even if the Army endorses it, but because the units have no choice but to admit that women "can do" combat. Hell, they are doing it in Iraq and Afghanistan as I type this, and they are doing it well despite lingering stereotypes.
Back to other technicalities, Apter notes that, “PTSD and depression, according to the Pentagon, are not intentionally caused by the enemy and are therefore not the types of wounds that DoD likes to celebrate”. (Major Hanafin prefers the term dignify not celebrate now Apter is being a little bit callous)
“While quiet depression doesn’t quite appeal to classic ideals of heroism in the way that, say, shredded viscera or an amputated limb can, it’s a slippery argument to make when a widely cited report says 20 percent of American fighting forces suffer from PTSD or severe depression.” Apter says, but I will not dignify his Devil’s Arithmetic, and application of it to comparing PTSD with the Boeing 757-223– that crashed into the Pentagon on September 11. I no more want to exploit 911, especially as it applies to the Pentagon, than those on the far right who desired to exploit it but failed to do so awarding America the first African-American President in history. God does have a righteous and fair sense of humor when dealing with hypocrisy, something it would behoove the Obama administration to remember ala Afghanistan. Major Hanafin
THE BOTTOM LINE:
In closing, Apter notes and I passionately agree that a wounded soldier, (male or female) whether he or she suffers from PTSD or from an RPG-shattered face, or both, is a wounded soldier-PERIOD!
By shining honor, and not stigma and shame, onto the psychological wounds of victimized soldiers, the armed forces can perhaps begin to update their decidedly 19th and 20th century old-fashioned vision of sacrifice and give fighting men and women of the 21st century ALL the credit and respect they deserve.
I would add, that the most respectful heritage we as Veterans who have gone before can pass onto the next generation is to not hold the same traditionalist and old fashion attitudes, bias, and prejudices that we did ala Purple Heart Band-Aids and questioning (politically Swift Boating) which Veterans deserved which medal, and which one’s FAKED IT for political hay. Most important when is any Veterans Service Organization or advocacy group going to really get serious about PTSD and start attacking STIGMA with the same passion that they go after an amendment to the consitution to protect Old Glory from desecration (Americanism)?
It’s way past time for both the Pentagon and VSO to begin a destigmatization program by taking funding out of selling patriotism and instead seriously dealing with the STIGMA of PTSD! It’s time for at least a poster and media campaign, especially to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq that THINK BEYOND THE STIGMA!
Robert L. Hanafin
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
About Simon Maxwell Apter
Simon Maxwell Apter is assistant editor at Lapham’s Quarterly.
Major Hanafin’s views on the Westmoreland incident at the 93rd Evac Hospital in Vietnam
When I read that Westmoreland was quoted as saying upon visiting the 93rd Evac Hospital in South Vietnam was that this sounded too much like the Patton slapping incident of WWII. Westmoreland has been quoted saying about troops not wounded by direct enemy combat was, "I don’t want to see medical wards. I don’t want to see those fakers." Put another way, if there’s not enough blood and gore send them back to the front (boonies), sandbox or mountains as is the case today.
Well upon closer examination of this incident, I thought that if such an incident involving two Commanding Generals occurred in the exact same unit during different war periods (WWII & Vietnam) not only was this too much of a coincidence, but there would have been beau coup documented evidence comparing the two incidents, especially in unit histories or the media of the time.
The website of the 93rd has a detailed and balanced narrative of the Patton Slapping Incident of WWII infamy that was depicted in the Motion Picture Patton and was historically well documented. I found nothing at all mentioning such an incident involving General Westmoreland though I found evidence of his visit during that timeframe.
I could only find the same source quoted by Mr. Apter that is David Maraniss’s, They Marched Into Sunlight.[Link] that will be released as a major motion picture next year (2010) and goes into production soon or is by the time you read this Internet Movie Database link.
The book and movie are about the juxtaposition in history of one day in October 1967, when two events, the loss of 61 American soldiers in a Viet Cong ambush and a student protest against Dow Chemical, galvanize opposition to the Vietnam War on college campuses. I don’t know if there is intent to portray the Westmoreland faker incident in the movie, but suffice it to say that incident is based on but two pages (pgs. 466-468) out of Maraniss’s book with little follow-up evidence over the years to support it.
That said, I strongly believe that General Westmoreland may have visited a MASH if you will, and displayed such an attitude toward wounded troops in medical wards that were not combat wounds per se, but upon examination of the 93rd Evac Reunion Website, and contacting 14 members of the 93rd who were assigned to the field hospital on the date in question when Westmoreland paid his visit, the overwhelming response I got by email was that the event was a fabrication. However, I found the most insightful response to be from a Chaplain assigned to the 92rd on that day. His response was that Westmoreland displayed an callous attitude toward troops who had other illnesses or wounds not directly related to combat as exhibited by this incident, but when pressed he would not tell me if Westmoreland had actually yelled or said such things to doctors and nurses. My assessment is that someone took historic fact, the Patton slapping incident, and applied it to a Vietnam setting. I would of at least used a different MASH unit than the one where the Patton incident actually happened.
“In October 22, 1967, General William C. Westmoreland paid a surprise visit to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital near Long Binh, South Vietnam. He had come to distribute Purple Hearts. To his chagrin, he arrived first at a medical ward where soldiers were convalescing from various tropical diseases and infections. "Medical wards!" the General yelled. "I don’t want to see medical wards. I don’t want to see those fakers." Westmoreland’s classless quote is recalled by doctors and nurses at the 93rd who were then treating those "fakers…." David Maraniss’s They Marched Into Sunlight, pgs. 466-468.
That said, I do share Maraniss’s view that the “message was simple: When it came to the suffering of US soldiers, bombs and bullets were honorable; mosquitoes and microbes were not.” However, articulating an attitude or message that’s TRUTH is not the same thing as quoting something that may have never happened. Unless documented evidence can be provided that General Westmoreland actually said and did those things on the date in question saying so does more to harm the message we are trying to relay than help PTSD patients.
I find the rest of Mr. Apter’s article to be most accurate and insightful once I got past the entry point to dig deeper. I will not dignify anything said about Westmoreland without proof, and I’m apathetic toward General Westmoreland.
Bobby Hanafin
The Mustang Major
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Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=4714
Posted by Robert L. Hanafin on Feb 6 2009, With 0 Reads, Filed under Coping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Bobby,
As a surviving disabled vet with hundreds of combat operations in Vietnam behind him, listening to so many phonies, people like BJ Burkette, paid stooge and REMF (saw no combat) in Vietnam or the hundreds and thousands who wear decorations undeserved it is time to put an end to this.
If you have two arms and two legs and can still walk without a cane, you don’t get a purple heart. Either give them to all wounded or stop giving them to officers who trip and fall at the club.
I have seen nearly every medal this country can award given to people who are professional liars, some former Vietnam POWs.
By some standards I could award myself enough purple hearts to fill a suitcase. I have gotten drunk, fallen, gotten blown up a few times and have certainly had to pull enough scrap metal out of myself. A real soldier slaps on a band aid, wraps it in an old t-shirt and moves on.
This is what every other veteran in any other war did.
The chumps that kissed ass to get phony medals so they could piss and moan on the cocktail circuit are a disgrace.
The "wall" is filled with people who earned purple hearts. I saw hundreds of purple heart winners on gurneys at VA hospitals, rotting to death with nobody caring, missing arms or legs or both.
Pulling a chunk of burning metal out of your leg or as in my case, lower abdomen is hardly a heroic act.
There are no heroic acts.
Real soldiers do their work because that is their job.
People who collect medals are politicians who disgrace uniforms, not soldiers.
Screw the bunch of them.
These guys are fun to meet in person. I love to ask one about their combat experiences. It is a barrel of yucks.
It is hard to tell what book or movie they get their stories from, usually a mixture of Platoon and Apocalypse Now.
g
Sounds fair to me Bro,
BTW it may have taken me a long time getting there, but I think you know that my take on PTSD and Purple Hearts really has nothing to do with medals and ribbons BUT more to do with talking about PTSD and getting Veterans still alive today to claim they believe PTSD is overblown or a liberal conspiracy and so on.
Do we really think that given the STIGMA welcomed by most VSOs and of course the Armed Forces that anyone with PTSD really wants to go around advertising or bragging about it with a medal or ribbon GET REAL!
Even as a officer, I’m willing to talk about it as it applies to me and my experience HOWEVER STIGMA more than anything keeps me for wanting to draw too much attention to myself with BRAGGING RIGHTS to a purple heart. Most troops I know who actually earned a purple heart do not talk about it.
That’s frankly what happened to John Kerry if attacks on him were right, wrong, or what have you.
One cannot throw you medals and awards (bragging rights) back at your government then turn around and make political hay out of it. LIFE IS THAT SIMPLE. UNFAIR BUT SIMPLE!
Cut all the BS and give the combat guys the benefits they deserve. Most don’t care about medals or awards, they want to able to care for their families and live a quality life. That means a monthly compensation that a family can live on. All this Purple Heart BS is coming from the VA doctors that that are trying to get futher entrenched in the veterans daily lives. If a person makes a decent living without worries about where the next meal is coming from or how to pay the bills, there is not going to be a lot of stress and the veterans can manage their lives. I speak from experience.
"Most don’t care about medals or awards, they want to able to care for their families and live a quality life. That means a monthly compensation that a family can live on."
DA, that part I can almost agree with you on IF it as easy to get monthly compensaton as Stolen Valor freaks want us to believe. Having worked at the VA for four years after coming back from Nam, I also know there were Vets who bragged about getting 100% SC for mental illness by faking it. They would come right in the ER and tell me [laughing] how they got over.
That said, in the four years I spent at two VA Hospitals, I witnessed more legitimate cases of mental illness than fakes. In fact, it was near impossible for fake vets to get into the VA system back in the day. One of my many duties at the VA was to sit a Vet down regardless how sick he was, and if we didn’t have a record on him, I had to assist him/her in filing a claim for immediate medical attention. Bro, it that Vet failed to have a DD-214 on him regardless what war it did or did not serve in, he/she was stablized and shown the door. If the DD-214 proved legit we were given a C number. I believe all VA Claims (even for education benefits) have a C number attached even today. In fact, when I returned to the VA system after retiring from the Air Force in 1994, I was still using my VA C number from Vietnam.
"All this Purple Heart BS is coming from the VA doctors that that are trying to get futher entrenched in the veterans daily lives."
Though I have a low opinion of VA doctors doing mental health, I have no beef with primary care doctors I’ve had recently. Mine BTW is Iranian-American not too anxious for US to invade Iran though a stong supporter of the Shah. It’s just that she still has family in Iran. More to the point could you please provide our readers reliable links or sources to your claim that VA doctors are involved in some kind of conspiracy? I look down on VA docs compared to private or military docs, but I refuse to believe there is a conspiracy to delve further into our lives. Sometimes I wish there was then VA doctors would be more proactive about patient care than cutting costs.
" If a person makes a decent living without worries about where the next meal is coming from or how to pay the bills, there is not going to be a lot of stress and the veterans can manage their lives. I speak from experience." Well said.
However, I also agree that the vast majority of GIs that serve in wars do not experience PTSD even if they’ve been in combat because well we are after all a violent society. This generation has thrived more on violence in the media, in video games, and so on than the Vietnam generation ever did. Heck, the Army uses violent PC games to attract those who thrive on violence. The is that some of us handle violence or even witnessing buddie getting blown to bits (call it immunity if you will, because I became immune to it enough to want to stay in the military after Nam).
The fly in the buttermilk is WE really can’t tell how many of those who claim PTSD doesn’t exist actually have it and don’t know it or remain in denile because to them anger and violence is normal behavior. I don’t know.
Lastly, yes there have been successful Veterans as Stolen Valor claims, I’m one of them. However, the vast majoirty of vets who use and misunderstand Stolen Valor or only take selective parts of it to heart are the same Veterans (Rolling Thunder comes to mind) that B.K. Burkett puts down in his book as looking like FAKES. If vets who follow his bible of Vietnam really took a closer look at how he and his describe us that fits every member of Rolling Thunder to a T.
Give me a break, I just retired after 22 years in Ranger and Infantry units with many months in in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most so called PTSD claims are BS and are a way for someone to get out of the service or to get a check. These kids are probed and proded by the shrinks until they plant a seed in their head and convince them that they have something wrong. Has anyone did a study on how many of these people that claim PTSD actually see combat, probably not only that they were in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most of those claims come from people that are not in Combat Arms, and never see their buddies blown up or killed/wounded. I have 2 Purple Hearts and it would be a shame that this medal is also discraced and given out to those that do not deserve it like so many other awards. Might as well give everyone a Broze Star or Silver Star just for being in any war. I know that there are those that do suffer from PTSD, but it is a fraction of those that claim it. If this is the way it works maybe I should claim PTSD and get a disibility check for it since I have a Purple Heart. I dont think so, I have something this country is losing “PRIDE”.
First let me thank you for your 22 year of service to include Iraq and Afghanistan, I know the feeling having served in two wars myself. Did nothing special in either one, but didn’t want to anyway. Even as an officer, I was far from a glory hunter or braggard.
Secondly, I wish to thank you for making the time to read my long winded article even if you didn’t agree with it. That is most appreciative. However,
"Most so called PTSD claims are BS and are a way for someone to get out of the service or to get a check. These kids are probed and proded by the shrinks until they plant a seed in their head and convince them that they have something wrong."
I’m sure our readers would be interested in such detail facts on what you say above, I know I would. Could you please provide our readers links and sources to what you say being true let alone debated? I provided link and sources if you agree with them or not, you owe me and our readers that courtesy. Especially if you served for me to have a right to my opinion. Oh, BTW I thank you for that too.
"Has anyone did a study on how many of these people that claim PTSD actually see combat, probably not only that they were in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most of those claims come from people that are not in Combat Arms, and never see their buddies blown up or killed/wounded."
I may be wrong but I believe the last study done along those lines was Burkett’s Stolen Valor, in fact Stolen Valor goes out of its way to expose Fake Vets who claim to have been in combat during Vietnam (WWII or Korea) and were not AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT REPUBLICANS. In fact, I’d be interested in reading anything out as silly as Stolen Valor applied to Iraq and Afghanistan. Heck, you appear to be an articulate writer, whey don’t you do the research on that. I’d suggest going to Stolen Valor and check out Burkett’s format for how to access people’s personal records, you can even get data on which of us claiming PTSD or what have you really were not in combat.
I can provide you links and source to both DOD and VA information that prove the Army misused and abused the diagnosis of Personality Disorder, something that should have been screened out by a military recruiter or at least a doctor during recruit physicals, in order to prevent Vets from filing future claims. However, no matter what sources or links I provide you, I’m afraid I just will not change your attitude or opinion.
Frankly, I served in two wars also in order for you to have your opinion, and I respect it. Are you going to thank me?
Thanks for your thoughtful article! However, as a Purple Heart recipient I too support the Pentagon’s decision not to award the Purple Heart for PTSD.
Let me first say that I am very sympathetic to those who suffer this condition, but believe that DoD and the VA are fully aware of this terrible disorder and are trying to offer treatment. The problem is that it is difficult to diagnose and treat but the effects are terrible, including suicide, spousal abuse, and substance abuse.
The criteria for this particular medal, however, is the suffering of physical wounds on the battlefield as the result of combat action by the enemies of the United States. It was the Department of Defense and the Congress who established the eligibility, NOT the MOPH. Moreover, There are many other kinds of injuries on the battlefield — someone can have a leg crushed by a vehicle, you can be injured by friendly fire, you could be exposed to chemical or biological agents, you can even contract a life-long disease. After Vietnam, for example, those soldiers exposed to Agent Orange are now suffering from many diseases, including Diabetes. After the first Gulf war, many suffer from “Gulf War Syndrome.” Where do you draw the line? Moreover, PTSD is a treatable disease — loss of a limb, or any combat wound for that matter, is permanent. And, what about those who feign the illness just to receive VA medical treatment; or, what about a group who witnesses a battlefield trauma together, but only one or two suffer from PTSD; should they all receive the Purple Heart?
NO!
Just for the record, this is not a new phenomenon, it just has a new name. Soldiers have suffered from “Shell Shock”, “Combat Fatigue”, and other symptoms since the beginning of warfare. I don’t think there is a single soldier that has ever been in combat who hasn’t suffered some form of PTSD, some are just more severe than others.
Since its inception in 1932, this Medal honors those who have spilled their blood or given their lives in the defense of their country. Expanding that criteria only denigrates its honor and those who wear it proudly.
- John Bircher, Military Order of the Purple Heart
Thanks for making the time to read my long-winded article if you agree with me or not.
See my response to the first comment about medals and ribbons for PTSD, I didn’t really spend time on these article to promote a purple heart for PTSD. My motivaton was to just get people talking about it. Sort of like therapy for me.
I repeat, and you’ve been there. Do you really want a medal or ribbon that brags about you or me having PTSD or some other mental illness. If so, I respect that. Medals and ribbons meant only one thing to me, so I’m being upfront = PROMOTION POINTS depending on which I earned. I really was too busy to go out of my way to seek medals and ribbons.
And I don’t have a purple heart, and never want one – PERIOD. After the purple heart band aide indicent and politcal questioning of our service from all political points on the compass, I frankly got fed up and (no I didn’t throw my medals and ribbons back at the Pentagon or Clinton or Bush, hell they never gave me any anyway. Nope, I threw my medals and ribbons up in the attack along with my uniforms to gather dust.
Let me tell you what really made me cop and attitude about medals and ribbons, it was long before the controversy over Kerry’s medals or Bush’s AWOL status, it was when an Air Force Tech Sergeant working at the Dental Clinic at Bolling AFB turned to me during my retirement physical and said something along these lines, "Major, if I were you I’d get all my dental treatment done before your last day on active duty, because once you are placed in a retired status you become a second class citizen."
No shit, that is what an Air Force Tech Sgt told a Major. The hidden meaning was the I was no different from her or anyone else once I retired. Now that was the attitude I left the Air Force with. Since then, I’ve learned that lifers are NOT second class citizens, we are third class. Natonal Guard members are second class citizens.
In closing I spend alot of time coming down on VSOs are fail to be progressive or forward thinking, especially those that are nationalistic on the verge of well the National Socialist Party. That is both intentional and caring. There is a reason why the first Veterans Service Organzations created after the civil war are not effectively around TIME MARCHES ON!
The Grand Army of Union Veterans did best it could to get recognition, pensions, and both state and federal relieft for former troops of the Union Army. Heck, that organization played a central role in creation of the first Soldiers Homes during the late 19th century. Confederate Veterans did the same for their troops down south, advocating for southern state pensions though obviously not eligible for federal pensions. They also played an important role in getting Rebel troops recognized in the south for their service long after they lost the war. Though Sons of Confederate Veterans per se is still around, they obvioulsy have no role to play on behalf of that generation much beyond recognition of what young men mostly form farming communities and immigrants fresh off the boat did to save the Union of defense their home land from Northern invasion or to protect an economic system based on human slavery.
My point is that these generational Veterans organizations served their purpose for their generation. Evoluton of a VSO has become a cycle if I may. That’s reality, if not Vietnam Veterans of America and VVAW would never have been formed to lobby beyond questoning war. If generational VSO were doing our jobs, instead of playing politics with one partisan party or another and not hiding behind or BS non-partisan charters as we did so, there would have been no need let alone motivation to form Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of American or Iraq Veterans Against the War or lord only knows how many other younger Veterans groups who can relate to their experience will rise from the ashes of Iraq and Afghanistan to make the Legion, VFW, and maybe even VVA obsolete to the point of attrition. Sorry, but I historically see this as a natural phenomenon.
When it comes to awarding disabled veterans the Purple Heart for PTSD Republicrats and Demopublicans have John Wayne
complex.
What these people fail to realize is that the medal awarded our wounded represents more than what they place on it by pulling pins with their teeth.
It means upholding the Constitution at times when the American
peope fail to do so.
As an Independent who leans left-wing libertarian, I thank you for making the time to read my long-winded article.
Have a Veteran Today Day everyday.
can i pull a copy of my army dd214 from my pc ,if so how
i am 100 disabled from effects of agent orange had 4 surgies on throat prostate cancer and type 2 diabettes 40 % neuropathy in hads feet 60% residules from agent orange 20 operations since june 2005 just had another on march 2 2009 30 percent diabetes lost use of creartive organ haqave bee incontinent for 5 years can’t make love to wife they offer grants but you have to pay for kit i live ina double wide trailor car is 1999 camery 218,000 miles need $ for colllege loan 25.000 and 30,000 to fix house. itake help from any secture of goverment or private sector thanks for listening wayne evensen po box 1933 bunnell 32110 florida
where is my purple heart 100@agent orange cancer 100 %PTSD 40 %neuroapathy feet hands 60% residules from cancer k award loss of creative organ type 2 diavbetes 30 %