Subclass of Fort Hood Wounded Don't Count

Fort Hood’s mentally wounded veterans don’t qualify for Purple Hearts 
2009 shooting now classified as ‘terror’
The Washington Times
By Jacqueline Klimas
Thursday, April 9, 2015

“They don’t think we should have that medal, because they don’t think we have been wounded. Well, I beg to differ,” said Mr. Woods, who is a Vietnam-era veteran who suffers from PTSD himself.

As victims and families are honored Friday for the sacrifices they made in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, some say the Department of Defense is ignoring soldiers who died from invisible wounds suffered that day.

The Defense Department is awarding 47 Purple Hearts and Defense of Freedom Medals, the latter being the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart, to victims and the families of those who were killed in the shooting.

The event holds special meaning to some, as it ends a years-long battle to classify the shooting as a terrorist attack, not workplace violence.

But for others, the battle is far from over.

“I will always have an empty chair at my table,” said Harold Berry, the father of a soldier stationed at the Texas base at the time of the shooting.

“A Purple Heart isn’t going to bring him back, but it would help my family have some closure.” 

 Mr. Berry’s son, Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Berry, committed suicide in February 2013. 

While he suffered a shoulder injury in the shootout on that November day in 2009, his father said it was the mental wounds sustained during the shooting that left a lasting impact and led to his death from PTSD. The younger Berry won’t be honored at tomorrow’s ceremony.
read more here