Traumatised US soldiers to get Purple Hearts

[douglas9]

Source: Telegraph (U.K.)

American soldiers who suffer post traumatic stress disorder would be awarded Purple Heart medals, usually given to those who are wounded in action, under a controversial plan being actively considered by the Pentagon.

Nine decades after soldiers were executed for "cowardice" brought on by what was then called shellshock during the First World War, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may be the first to have their mental injuries treated the same as battlefield wounds.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has urged Pentagon advisers responsible for battlefield awards to study the proposal after Army psychologists said widening the criteria for a Purple Heart would increase the acceptance of soldiers suffering from PTSD, and persuade more to seek help for their problems.

Pentagon figures show that 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress since 2003 but it is classified as an illness not an injury, making it ineligible for a Purple Heart under current rules.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2124799/Traumatised-US-soldiers-to-get-Purple-Hearts.html?service=print

[DRoseDARs]

1. Fuck medals, give them their goddamn MEDICAL care!!!

A little metal trinket isn't going to help prevent them from suffering years of debilitating psychological and emotional problems! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

4. As an alternative...

Maybe we should just GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF THERE!!!

See? Problem Solved...

[DRoseDARs]

11. Erm, that helps those who aren't screwed up yet, but what about the thousands who already are?

We can turn off the faucet, but the room is still flooded.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Drinamyl amphetamines ?

:shrug:

[Tab]

3. Purple hearrts are apparently just an invitation to be mocked.

Just ask John Kerrey

Republican's respect for PH's seems to be very conditional.

[bean fidhleir]

5. It's not just the GOP that mocks whatever they can scrape up.

There are plenty of partisan Dems (as in, for example, that thread about ageism) who have no shame either.

[kimmylavin]

9. Purple Hearts...

They're only honorable when received by Repugs - didn't you know that?

[Posteritatis]

6. Woo, a mere 94 years after the British made that same recognition! (nt)

[jwirr]

7. It's about time. The Agent Orange vets are still not acknowledged

on the memorial.

[Tutonic]

8. Institutional Flagellation

This article would be funny if it wasn't so freakin sick!

"Army psychologists said widening the criteria for a Purple Heart would increase the acceptance of soldiers suffering from PTSD, and persuade more to seek help for their problems."

Why not give them a rat in a cage? I'm still trying to figure out how a purple heart could be trivialized by Gates and company to the point of acting as an inducement for a vet suffering from PTSD. If someone is going to seek help for his problems it won't be because Bob Gates decided to present him with a purple heart. Maybe when Gates and his buddies tire of this form of institutional flagellation, they can ante up funding to increase health care for these vets and to provide more monthly pay for soldiers before they get to the state of PTSD. Symbols like a purple heart to a man dying on the inside won't induce or trick him into seeking treatment. They need serious help. Otherwise like I said give them a rat in a cage.

[lynnertic]

10. SUBSTITUTING MEDALS FOR MEDICAL CARE SOLVES NOTHING.

dammit.

Those GOP types are taking their band-aids way too seriously.