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Purple Hearts For Everyone!
Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered tenuous support for issuing the purple heart to any military person suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. While I am sure that many of our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors suffer from the horrific realities of combat, the wound is not the same as taking a bullet, losing an arm or a leg, etc….
I am reminded of the field hospital scene in the movie Patton:
Patton: What’s the matter with you?
Soldier: Well, I… I guess I… I can’t take it anymore.
Patton: What did you say?
Soldier: It’s my nerves, sir. I… I just can’t stand the shelling anymore.
Patton: Your “nerves”? Well, hell, you’re nothing but a God-damned coward.
[Soldier starts sniveling]
Patton: Shut up!
[Slaps him, once forehanded, then backhanded on the rebound]
Patton: I’m not going to have a man sitting here crying! In front of these brave men who have been wounded in battle!
[Soldier snivels some more, and Patton swings a vicious forehand slap, knocking his helmet away]
Patton: Shut up!
[to the doctors]
Patton: Don’t admit this yellow bastard. There’s nothing wrong with him. I won’t have a man who’s just afraid to fight stinking up this place of honor! You will get him back up to the front.
[to soldier]
Patton: You’re going back to the front, boy. You may get shot, and you may get killed, but you’re going back to the fighting. Either that, or I’ll stand you up before a firing squad. Why, I ought to shoot you right now, you…
[pulls his service automatic. At that, the doctors leap forward and hustle the soldier out of the tent. Patton keeps shouting at the soldier’s back]
Patton: God-damned bastard! Get him out of here! Take him back to the front! You hear me? You God-damned coward!
[Takes deep breath]
Patton: I won’t have cowards in my army.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Just a comment. I agree that the purple heart should not be awarded for post tramatic stress disorder, but I would like to say that it is a serious consequence of war and should not be dismissed as cowardice. Give a little respect for the men who serve!
May 14th, 2008 at 7:51 am
You have made several stupid posts, but this was one of your stupidest. Seriously, comparing PTSD sufferers to whimps and sissies? You probably don’t know anybody with PTSD or else you wouldn’t have made this post. Get a clue.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:50 am
I have nothing but respect for those who choose to serve our nation. While the scene from Patton may be a little harsh, the point remains: fear ought not to be treated the same as injury. Any soldier suffering from PTSD deserves all the mental health treatment he or she needs, but not a medal for experiencing battle.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Bob-
You are correct; I don’t know anyone suffering from PTSD. I do know many fine soldiers who served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, witnessed much of war’s horrors and still manage to cope.
I understand, some simply can’t make sense of or handle the experiences flung at them in an unimaginable place and circumstance.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
[…] and Bill already addressed this in a previous post, is the constant focus on post traumatic stress disorder that some soldiers return home with. I […]
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I agree with Bill. Here’s a good video on PTSD.
http://www.mtvu.com/video/?id=1583395&vid=216184
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Thank you Simone for posting the link to that video. I think that puts the fallacy to Bill’s contention that PTSD is a function of fear. It is not. Part of PTSD is the fact that people are trained to be on constant vigilance and their return to peace time leaves a little rattled. Not to call my father out, but my mother tells a story about when he came back from Viet Nam: Apparently she was riding in the car with him and he drove over a manhole cover. According to her, the next thing you know, he was taking cover under the dashboard. Problem is: he was driving.
Soldiers are trained to react to life threatening situations. The training is very effective. As a result, soldiers come back to civilian life with a highly developed sense of threat which is hard to turn off. THAT is what PTSD is - not cowardice. In fact, it is really quite the opposite.
While I agree that soldiers who exhibit cowardice should be sanctioned, soldiers who have trouble adjusting to civilian life are another issue altogether. We should treat them first of all as heroes and secondly with every possible opportunity to readjust.
Many of those who suffer from PTSD are the very heroes who Bill has painted as cowards. That is wrong. The transition from war footing to peace is difficult and some have trouble making the transition. It has nothing to do with cowardice. In fact, those who were the most “in the shit” are the most likely to have trouble adjusting.
Bill, understand what you are talking about before you insult our heroes.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
tsk, tsk, Karl. Never, anywhere, have I said those suffering from PTSD are cowards nor do I believe them to be. exactly the opposite, actually. Fear and cowardice are two completely different things.
Yet, you do make a good point about training. The training is intended to save lives and is effective, I agree. However, the training is put in place out of a fear of loosing lives. Without this fear there would be no training.
So to recap, I was reminded of the movie scene. This is not to say I agree with the sentiment attributed to General Patton. But the audacity of issuing Purple Hearts to veterans suffering from PTSD and equating their suffering to those that were legitimately injured is disheartening to say the least.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I will agree to you to this extent: Those who are sustained injury as a result of combat surely deserve a Purple Heart, those whose only claim is PTSD should not be granted the same.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Those who sustain combat injuries should be afforded the honor of receiving a Purple Heart. No one else.