Veteran's News

Should PTSD Victims Earn Purple Heart?

Stars and Stripes | Jeff Schogol | 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.

Poll: Should PTSD victims earn 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.

Related Op-ed: Recognizing the Hidden Wounds of War

"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.

Learn More at Military.com's PTSD Center

"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.

Is West Point Changing its Tune?

May 16, 2008

Associated Press

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The head of the U.S. Military Academy thinks it's time to replace the "men" and "sons" in West Point's two most beloved songs with more gender-neutral lyrics. Lt. Gen. Franklin "Buster" Hagenbeck, superintendent of the nation's oldest military academy, told a congressional oversight committee Wednesday that with more than 3,000 women graduating from West Point since 1976, the change is long overdue. During a presentation Wednesday to the academy's Board of Visitors meeting in Washington, Hagenbeck said he wants to change the words to the military academy's alma mater and its companion piece, "The Corps." Both songs date back about a century.

In "The Corps," the proposals include changing "The men" to "The ranks," and "We sons" to "The Corps." The superintendent said the changes aren't being pushed by female cadets, but it's a commonsense move considering the role women play in today's military.

"When are they going to be recognized for what they're doing?" he said.

Hagenbeck said he got the idea for the revision two years ago at a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of women being admitted to West Point. He listened as the female alums sang lyrics from the songs that included, "We sons of today, we salute you."

Hagenbeck has spent the last few months discussing the possible changes with alumni, Army brass and cadets. He said he'll make the final decision, possibly after graduation ceremonies on May 31 and before the Class of 2012 arrives this summer.

The academy's Board of Visitors, made up of presidential appointees and members of Congress, voted unanimously to back whatever decision he makes. Three New York congressman - John McHugh, Maurice Hinchey and John Hall - are board members.