Anyone who has doubts about how debilitating PTSD can be, read (or listen to) this heart-wrenching story.
I know the concern about malingering is not a irrational one. You don’t have to be too smart to successfully fake a mental illness; you’d have to be a skillful magician to fake a limb amputation.
But I don’t think this is the only reason people don’t want to award Purple Hearts to mental illness sufferers. The Purple Heart is supposed to be an acknowledgement of courage under fire. Many people think those with PTSD are just crybaby pussies who just need to “get over it”, not brave warriors who sacrificed their sanity on behalf of the country. After all, the liutenant colonel in the first article was in combat three times and he came out unscathed. Why, it’s folks like him that should be getting medals! Not some bed-wetting crybaby who should have never graduated from bootcamp.
I’m afraid this sentiment is so wide spread and well-entrenched that soldiers with mental health injuries will always be stigmatized. I think this is very unfortunate, but I’m sure there are Dopers who disagree with me.
I don’t think that is correct. It is to acknowledged that a person was wounded by the enemy. From Wiki:
It is not for courage. It is for being wounded. Not that PST may not be classified as a wound. But I think that the Purple Heart should be restricted to physical wounds. My reasons are twofold. One is that you can’t fake a physical wound, but you can a “mental wound”. More important, where do you draw the line. I would say that most people who have seen heavy action have witnessed things that they wish they could erase from their minds. Are they not “wounded” too, to a degree. Are not some of these people less whole than a guy that got some schrapnel in his leg and received a few stitches? Saw where do you draw the line. I fear that you can expand the number of people classified as wounded to have the PH lose any meaning it has.
You can’t just decide that someone is “wounded” whenever something terrible happens to them. Was my mother wounded when she was laid off her job? Was my grandfather wounded when the medication keeping his heart pumping stopped working? The word “wound” means something very specific and non-arbitrary, and purple hearts are awarded for specific, non-arbitrary reasons.
It sounds like your father certainly was damaged more by PTSD than by the scrape on his chin, but that doesn’t mean we should redefine the criteria for awarding purple hearts.
No, per your own quote it’s for people who have been wounded in action. There are other medals for courage under fire.
It is unfortunate that this attitude seems common in the military. I’ve heard some interviews of soldiers on NPR and even those who were in combat said things like “I’d never want to serve with someone who went to see a shrink” because to them it proved that those individuals were unstable. Going to war can be mentally traumatic. On occasion my grandfather still has nightmares about his experience in WWII and Korea. I don’t think my grandpa is a pussy.
I wouldn’t aware the Purple Heart to folks with PTSD but I do think the stigma surrounding it should be removed. I was listening to NPR a few weeks ago and a soldier who returned from Iraq to Ft. Hood, Texas was recounting how he was adjusting. He said one of the hardest things for him to do was drive in traffic because when other vehicles came close to him he got very nervous. In Iraq if a vehicle came that close they might be trying to blow you up. Yeah, it’s tough for soldiers and I think the Army needs to do more to ensure the mental wellbeing of our troops.
Anyone got any information the suicide rate of soldiers in the last few years?
