MARINE CORPS TIMES: SHOULD GIS BE AWARDED PURPLE HEART FOR PTSD?

Idea sparks debate among troops, defense officials

A quick question tossed at Defense Secretary Robert Gates — Should veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder receive the Purple Heart? — has created a maelstrom in the blogosphere.

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writerPosted : Monday May 19, 2008 11:59:13 EDT
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/05/army_purpleptsd_051908w/

It seems the reasoning behind the idea — to lessen the stigma of mental health disorders — also works against the proposition.
“It would lessen the meaning of the award,” a Marine said about the military’s oldest combat medal.
“I’d be ashamed to wear it,” chimed in a soldier.

“It’s an insult to those who have suffered real injury on the battlefield,” wrote an Army intelligence officer.

The dust-up began May 2 when Gates was on a visit to Red River Army Depot, Texas. During a brief media availability, a reporter asked Gates if the Pentagon might consider awarding Purple Hearts to troops with combat-related PTSD.

“It’s an interesting idea … I think it’s clearly something that needs to be looked at,” Gates said.
John Fortunato, who directs the Restoration and Resilience Center in Fort Bliss, Texas, added fuel to the fire by saying the medal could help service members understand that PTSD is a common by-product of war.

“These guys have paid at least as high a price, some of them, as anybody with a traumatic brain injury, as anyone with a shrapnel wound,” Fortunato said, adding that not recognizing PTSD as a wound deserving of the Purple Heart “says this wound isn’t worthy.”
Fortunato made his comments to the Pentagon’s internal American Forces Information Service, which folded them into an article posted May 5 on the official Defense Department Web site. But by Thursday, calls to Fortunato were being referred to the Pentagon — he was no longer talking about the issue.

At a news conference Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Gates will, in fact, look into the issue.

“I should point out that they’ve looked at this before and they determined ... that it was not appropriate to make PTSD a qualification for the Purple Heart,” Morrell said. “But I can tell you that the department is exploring PTSD as a qualifying wound through the [Defense Department] Awards Advisory Group. There is no timetable at this point for them to provide a recommendation.”

Gen. George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit to honor anyone who served with distinction during wartime. In 1932, Gen. Douglas MacArthur decided it would go only to those wounded or killed in action. Rules for who may receive it are strict: The injury must occur during combat, can’t be self-inflicted and can’t result from an accident.

But illnesses don’t qualify — and PTSD is considered an illness, not an injury.

“I thought it was a brilliant idea when it first came up,” said Charles Figley, who co-edited “Combat Stress Injury Theory Research,” and is a professor at the Florida State University Traumatology Institute. “But the science is just not there to be able to determine if there was an injury.”

Figley had hoped that considering PTSD a combat injury would reduce some of the stigma associated with it. In fact, many of the bloggers attacking the idea say it would denigrate the medal — and they don’t consider PTSD the same thing as a battle wound.

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