When is a wound, not a wound? When it's PTSD.

by
Chaplain Kathie
I have to admit I'm going back and forth on this. Originally I thought it was a bad idea because of exactly what happened when veterans began discussing this. Then I thought, well the term itself means wound, so it should qualify. Trauma is Greek for wound. The original award was the Badge of Merit, issued by General George Washington. It was adopted into what we now know as the Purple Heart.
Now I believe that giving the Purple Heart to PTSD wounded is not the right answer. It would not be the right answer for Traumatic Brain Injury either. Far from it. Wounds to the body can heal even though they leave scars behind. The military does not separate a graze wound from a bullet to losing a limb. They get the same award. No one wants to take away any honor for the physically wounded but the invisibly wounded should not be ignored any longer especially when these two wounds change the lives of the wounded forever along with their families.
I am back to where I was in the beginning of this, to the Wound Chevron.
There should be a different award for these two wounds. This is how the Purple Heart started out.

From The Badge of Merit to The Purple Heart


The Badge of Military Merit circa 1782 New Windsor Cantonment is the site of the final encampment of America's first army at the close of our country's War of Independence.

To honor the service of his troops, General George Washington chose a select few of his troops to receive a small purple cloth Badge of Merit, the precursor to the Purple Heart award. One of three known Badges of Military Merit, the only documented surviving example, is on exhibit here.

So it is natural that this significant historic site was selected to be the home of the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. In 1932 the new Purple Heart medal was presented to 138 veterans of World War I on these same historic grounds.

The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration still in use and was the first to honor the common soldier. It was initially created as the Badge of Military Merit by the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, General George Washington. A leader who understood the importance of the individual soldier, Washington vowed "to make it the most agreeable part of [his] duty to study merit, and reward the brave and deserving." His appreciation for the common soldier impelled him to recognize outstanding valor and merit by granting a commission or an advance in rank to deserving individuals. However, towards the end of the Revolutionary War, he was ordered by the Continental Congress to cease doing so because of the lack of available funds.

Deprived of his usual means of reward, Washington devised a substitute. In his General Orders of August 7, 1782, Washington declared that, "whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings, over his left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding." This document would be lost, as would the dramatic accounts of three soldiers from the New Windsor Cantonment who received the decoration. The Book of Merit has not been found, and the Badge of Merit fell out of use after the Revolutionary War. But, the need to create a military decoration that honored the common soldier remained.

I strongly believe that if these wounds are to be honored, then they need to be treated as a wound. PTSD and TBI are injuries caused by service to the nation. They need to come up with a separate award to honor these invisible wounds. The only way to remove the stigma, to erase the "shame" brought on by ignorance of the fact these wounds have nothing to do with courage, patriotism or anything other than being wounded, is to honor them.

I've seen enough images of what people can come up with when they put their minds to work. I'm sure someone could come up with an award to honor the men and women that have been wounded in the line of duty.