MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART
National Headquarters
5413-B Backlick Road, Springfield, VA 22151
(703) 642-5360 Fax: (703) 642-2054
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 8, 2008 |
 |
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Joseph W. Palagyi
National Adjutant
Military Order of the Purple Heart (703) 642-5360 |
A recent article in the military press alluded to the possibility that the Purple
Heart Medal might be awarded in cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD),
as being under consideration by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Honorable
Robert Gates.
A spokesman for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, (MOPH), was quoted as saying,
“The Purple Heart Medal is awarded to those Combat Wounded men and women, who as
Members of the Armed Forces, shed blood by an instrument of war in the hands of
an enemy of the United States of America.
” Our Founding Father, General George Washington, conceived the Medal of Merit and
awarded this medal in 1782 to three stalwart soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
In 1932, General Douglas MacArthur returned the honored tradition of awarding the
Purple Heart and gave it the dignity it deserves as we march forward in the war
against terrorism.
The MOPH takes issue with recent attempts to degrade the basic requirements and
considerations for the award to include diagnosed illness, disease, and non-combat
injuries suffered or incurred in combatant theatres of operations.
The National Commander of the MOPH, Henry J. Cook III, a retired Army Special Forces
Colonel said, “It is ironic that on May 8, 1945 the Nazi’s surrendered, and today,
sixty four years later we have an opportunity to express our most devoted feelings
in homage to not only the greatest generation who served their Country, but to all
those who have shed their life’s blood in sacrifice for the greater cause.” The
Ocean’s, battlefield’s, and cemeteries of the Atlantic and Pacific, France, Italy,
Belgium, Guam, the Philippines, and now Iraq and Afghanistan, bear mute testimony
to those who paid the full measure of devotion with their lives. The memories of
far off battles at Midway, the North Atlantic and the Coral Sea, on Corregidor,
in Bastogne, on Iwo Jima, at St Mere Eglise, Anzio, Inchon, Chosen Reservoir, Khe
Sahn, Hue, the A-Shau, Mekong Delta, Cu Chi, Tay Ninh, AnWar, Bagdad, and Bagrum,
are steeped in the blood of Patriots and sends a resounding pledge that the Purple
Heart Medal shall be for those who have shed their blood.
“Today, as a ‘Band of Brothers,’ we must withstand courageously, any attempt at
degrading our most prized Purple Heart Medal,” said MOPH’s National Service Director
Jack Leonard. Leonard also concludes that PTSD and TBI are issues that merit heightened
attention in the medical and mental health communities, but not for the issuance
of a Purple Heart Medal.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Purple Heart Service Foundation stand
in harmony and are dedicated to providing and protecting benefits and entitlements
not only for the recipients of the Purple Heart Medal, but to all Veterans who have
taken the pledge to serve faithfully the United States of America, and to defend
the Constitution of the United States. “41,047 fraternal members of our beloved
Order stand at the ready to defend, honor, and cherish the pureness of the Purple
Heart”, said Joseph Palagyi, the National Adjutant of the Military Order of the
Purple Heart.
|
|