Nine wounded Nevada National Guard soldiers denied Purple Hearts

[leftchick]

http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2824065&nav=8faOVJvz

The Nevada National Guard is investigating why nine Henderson-based soldiers wounded in Iraq haven't gotten Purple Heart medals they were promised.

The soldiers are members of the 72nd Military Police Company based in Henderson. Their commander turned in requests for them to get the medals after seven were hurt when their truck was destroyed by a roadside bomb outside Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in June 2003.

One soldier from the unit did get a Purple Heart when he was airlifted home after the attack. The commander also sought medals for two soldiers wounded by shrapnel and noise when their Humvee was bombed a few weeks later.

A spokeswoman for the Nevada Guard says the wounded soldiers should have gotten their medals soon after the attacks. She says the military's working on it.

[Rick Myers]

1. His Highness Rummy must first check...

their voter ID cards!!!

[hatrack]

2. Senator Reid! Paging Senator Reid! nt

.

[saigon68]

3. Too busy kissing the Chimpanzee's ass

[denverbill]

4. Sorry, if they get medals, we have to listed them as casualties.

But we wouldn't want to inflate the casualty lists.

[katsy]

5. GOP working on it...

The GOP has a lot of little purple heart bandaids leftover from their smear campaign. They're enroute to our wounded troops as we speak.


:mad:

[peacemeal]

6. Unfortunately,

they've probably run out of them - need to wait for the next shipment from China.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

7. maybe they ran out of them

they're on back-order. quite a demand these days.

edit: sorry peacemeal, i didn't see your post.

[DulceDecorum]

8. Purple Hearts don't pay med bills.

The new eligibility rules for Purple Heart recipients was approved by Congress as part of the Veterans Millenium Health Care and Benefits Act. The act was retroactive back to 29 November 1999.

Any Purple Heart recipient who is not presently assigned to Catagories 1 thru 3 or has made copayments for VA health care provided subsequent to 29 November 1999 (excluding the $2.00 (now $7.00) copayment for each 30 day supply of prescription medications) should immediately go the appropriate VA Medical Center. Bring proof of receipt of Purple Heart (DD214, Purple Heart Certificate, official orders of award, etc.) and request to be immediately placed in Catagory 3. At the same time, initiate IN WRITING, a request for a refund of all copayments made for medical care subsequent to 29 November 1999.

It is in the best interest of all Purple Heart recipients, if they are suffering from any disability that may be a result of, or secondary to, the event that lead to the award of the Purple Heart, that they consult with a Veteran Organization Service Officer. They will assist the veteran to ascertain whether a claim for Service Connection for the disability should be initiated. Catholic War Veteran Service Officers, along with other veteran organization service officers, are available at most VA Regional Offices and VA Medical Centers for assistance.
http://www.cwv.org/purple/purple.htm

As you can see, a Purple Heart person can get their med bills reimbursed all the way back to 1999.
Plus they are set for life, -- medically.
So ot is much more cost effective to send their wounded asses back to the front lines and let the Iraqis deal with them.
Remember that bomb/rocket in the dining hall in Mosul?

A total of 69 others were wounded: 44 U.S. servicemembers, seven U.S. contractors, five Defense Department civilians, two Iraqi civilians, 10 contractors of other nationalities and one of unknown nationality and occupation. “Twenty-five of the 69 who were wounded were returned to duty,” Myers said. Others are being transported to Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany.

I do not know if this man qualified for a Purple Heart -- before the outrage.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2004/12/10/dcloriaw.htm

[Ian David]

9. You're not wounded. It's only a scratch!

[MASSAFRA]

10. Robert Dole

has to determine if the people bled enough. He reviews all Purple Heart reports.