Why Are We Denying Purple Hearts to Veterans With PTSD?

Why Are We Denying Purple Hearts to Veterans With PTSD?
Huffington Post
Gene Beresin
Posted: 03/03/2015

I have seen Arthur for psychiatric care for over 20 years. He suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his two tours of duty in Vietnam.

Arthur attended the University of Massachusetts, and graduated in 1969. Although he was drafted upon losing his student waiver, he chose instead to enlist as a volunteer. Soon he was training to deactivate bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the field.

Although he proved to be quite talented, and ultimately succeeded in saving countless lives, he also experienced failure. No one can detect and suppress every device in the jungle.

Each and every death he witnessed felt like a terrible personal failure. He still dreams of the horrifying scenes he lived through in the war.

To this day, Arthur suffers from PTSD and profound survivor's guilt. While better in many ways, he qualified for total disability based on his diagnosis, and sees me on a regular basis.

Arthur received two Purple Hearts for physical wounds incurred in 1970 and 1971, but was denied Purple Hearts for his traumatic brain injury and PTSD because they were not considered obvious physical wounds at the time.

I appreciate the profound impact PTSD has had on his life--his daily flashbacks, impaired sleep, obsessions over what he could have done to save more lives, extreme vigilance to protect the ones he loves. Not a day goes by that he doesn't question himself.

It defies me that he has not earned Purple Hearts for these long-lasting effects of PTSD--awards to stand beside the two Bronze Star Medals for Valor he received.
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My comment

Great job on the question and calling attention to this subject back up again.

Until people understand that there are different types of PTSD and combat PTSD is different, they will never see it as anything other than an illness. Civilians get PTSD from a long list of traumatic events in their lives but as with different levels, their treatment needs to be based on the cause. The cause of Combat PTSD is military service and it is complicated by the deep connection servicemen and women have to others they serve with. This carries into their lives as veterans.

What we know about PTSD in the civilian world was knowledge gained by veterans coming home from Vietnam and fighting for the research to be done. Strange how they are the last to receive the benefits they obtained for everyone else.

I've read the best experts over the last 30+ years and they point out the differences few others even think about. When folks get that this PTSD is caused by combat, they would have no problem with the Purple Heart any more than they would have issues with TBI caused by service as well. It isn't an illness that was caused by them but something inflicted upon them. There is so much that is done wrong because people still don't know what they should have known years ago. Veterans want healing more than anything else but they can't get it while there is still so many mistakes being made disguised as "doing something" when what works is ignored.