Recently an Army psychiatrist, Dr. John Fortunato of Fort Bliss, TX proposed awarding Purple Hearts to service members diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His reasoning is that not awarding the Purple Heart to someone with PTSD is telling them it's not real. It's not serious enough to merit formal recognition. The Military Order of the Purple Heart objects to awarding the medal for PTSD. Their objection is that it is in violation of the spirit of the award as set forth by Gen. George Washington by order from his Newburgh, New York headquarters on 7 August1782. The actual order includes the phrase, "Let it be known that he who wears the military order of the purple heart has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen."
To quote Gen W.T. Sherman: “War is hell.” War is the most horrific experience humans inflict upon each other. It is humanity at its worst, most cruel, most desperate, and most depraved. Following the carnages of WWI and WWII, the international community sought to implement “rules” for warfare, evidently attempting to civilize war to the status of a corporate board meeting. So far it has only worked on the U.S. military, as the rest of the world continues much as it has since the beginning of time.
Enter awarding for PTSD a Purple Heart that is also awarded to some one who lost a leg, or arm, or whose body is covered with burn scarring.
First, soldiers do NOT want to earn a Purple Heart. No one wants to be wounded, but all who wear the uniform recognize and honor those who have earned the Purple Heart.
Second, if two soldiers in dress uniform meet and each has a Purple Heart, how it was received will come up in conversation. One might say; “I was shot in Afghanistan.” Would the other reply: “I have PTSD.”? I think not. Also, as has been pointed out, having an award for a mental problem would automatically tag it as “the crazy medal”. Nothing anyone, especially a service member, wants associated with them. Is it not bad enough that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have introduced legislation to classify soldiers with PTSD as mentally unstable and strip them of the very rights they fought to protect?
Remember, war is horrible. When someone steps into the chaos of war to protect the values he holds dear, war can have a detrimental affect on him. If he survives it will also have a positive affect on him in that he can endure whatever “normal” life can throw at him. If war has no effect, that is abnormal. Let's not change the standards of awarding the Purple Heart that Gen. Washington so eloquently set forth.
