Purple Heart award cheapened
Purple Heart award cheapened
John Brooks, 99 Recon, enclosed an article on how the Purple Heart medal is being awarded more liberally today.
He said "many of our 99th veterans lost fingers, toes, feet, and normal use of their limbs due to frost bite, but were denied the Purple Heart."
But he notes that today's soldiers receive the medal for such things as broken ribs, heat stroke, and "the Kosovo runs."
"The next thing you know, they'll be awarding the Medal of Honor for falling off the commode," John comments.
The article was written by David Hackworth, retired colonel who was awarded eight Purple Heart medals for wounds received in Korea and Vietnam.
The article documents awarding the medal for such things as heat stroke.
Another article, submitted by John, showed a Marine getting the medal for broken ribs suffered while helping to pull people to safety when the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, was full of smoke from a bomb.
In May of 1999 the Defense Department put in an order for 9,000 Purple Heart medals. The order was made to "replenish a diminishing supply," according to the government, not in anticipation that more will be needed.
