Group says PTSD doesn’t merit Purple Heart and they are wrong

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.
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I got off the phone with one of the veterans I've been helping a little while ago. After a long time of helping him, he finally asked the question. "How do you know I'm even a vet?" I told him that he has nothing to gain coming to me for help if he wasn't. I have no power to have his claim approved, no position of authority to give him anything more than I am giving, my time, my knowledge, my prayers and my heart. That's all I have to give and that is all he's asked of me. What do they all want? They want to have their wounds treated and if they cannot work they want to make sure they can survive financially. It's what regular working people all over the country expect from their employers but veterans worked for the nation. Employees are not willing to die in order to do their jobs unless they are in the police, fire or emergency responders risking their lives everyday.

"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.

Almost getting wounded? Did he really say that? Did those words come out of his mouth? How can anyone not call PTSD a wound. Trauma is Greek for wound an unless I totally blew my Greek upbringing I really doubt the Greeks just invented the word. It's as old as the language itself! That would indicated that since it is a wound, this person has not clue what an "almost" wound is. It's a direct hit! Worse than just a wound, it spreads like an insidious infection eating away more and more like gangrene set it.

insidious
of a disease : developing so gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent

Think of it this way. Instead of a bullet penetrating flesh, it penetrates the mind, body and soul. Instead of blood coming out, this kills going in. Instead of leaving a scar from the bullet just in the area the bullet struck, it leaves a scar on every part of the veteran that keeps cutting deeper and deeper until it is treated.

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.

Considering veterans do not have flashbacks of anything but combat, this one is a blown excuse as well. They have flashbacks and nightmares and suffer from all the other symptoms because of the events in combat. So what is the point of this statement? Unless there is an enemy trying to kill them there is no combat for them to have flashbacks and nightmares about. Is there?

I'm beginning to think that the people who put up such a fuss about PTSD being a wound of a lesser worth are the same ones who seem to support the continuance of the stigma attached to it. It is not a wound of a lesser degree because they cannot see the blood. They can see the wound just by looking into their eyes. A bullet wound in the arm will heal but PTSD provides a lifetime of being wounded over and over and over again.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

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"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington