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Sunday, August 19, 2007

PURPLE HEART BLUES


Short of Purple Hearts, Navy Tells Vet To Buy Own

We’ve apparently reached a point in which U.S. troops are injured so frequently in Iraq and Afghanistan — the number is now near 30,000 — that the military is running out of Purple Hearts. That’s stunning.

Korean War veteran Nyles Reed, 75, opened an envelope last week to learn a Purple Heart had been approved for injuries he sustained as a Marine on June 22, 1952.

But there was no medal. Just a certificate and a form stating that the medal was "out of stock." (Read more here)

10 comments:

Q Jordon said...

In the early and mid-eighties, they were giving purple hearts out to people that were hurt while doing their regular duties.

While I was in Honduras, an Army truck driver (64C) slammed on his brakes not to hit a little boy's dog. When the driver went to get out of his truck and see if everyone was all right, he fell off the running board and broke his ankle. He got a purple heart.

Q

zipperdedoodah said...

That seems to downgrade the value of the purple hearts that were earned during combat operations or battle .

Al

MysticSeaMaiden said...

But what really gets me with this story is the government is running out of purple hearts, what does that tell us?

Anonymous said...

aaaarrrgh! the government is running out of purple hearts, what does that tell us?
BLOOD FOR OIL

MysticSeaMaiden said...

Did you happen to catch rove on Meet the Press? He referred to oil so many times it wasnt funny. He even said if iraq had gain control of the oil then they would have been able to hold us hostage, but hey the bushlies say the war is NOT about oil. Go Figure

Q Jordon said...

I eluded to the oil in the Cheney's quagmire post.

It was always about the oil. I also posted it on my blog. On NPR, they had three political think tank representatives that discussed the reason American troops should not be removed from Iraq. The think tanks were the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, and the Brookings Institute.

The reason was two-fold, strategic location within the middle east, and to preserve the oil production in Iraq.

By proxy, the following countries are involved in this war, but do not necessarily have troops in it: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, and Israel. The United States is the middle man for both Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Now for the oil production reduction in the Middle East, which all three of the think tanks said was a possibility, if the U.S. was to leave the country of Iraq. The reduction standards could be between 20-25%, which equates to $6.50-$7.00 per gallon for gasoline in the United States.

The U.S. economy would be devestated, according to the three.

Q

P.S. As far as the actual medals not in stock, you have to remember that this Administration, along with the Pentagon, did not realize so many soldiers would or could be saved on the battlefield. In cases like this, they expected to deliver the medals at a later date - postmortem.

WFG said...

Do you mean alluded, Q?

WFG said...

We really should treat that medal more like Britain's Victoria's Cross. The medal is a joke nowadays.

ononotagain said...

An army surgeon stated that "we are saving TOO MANY seriously injured soldiers" (because of modern first aid techniques)

things that make you go HMMMM!

Q Jordon said...

Yes, I did mean alluded. But then again, I have been so medicated lately, that I type it as I go without caring how it turns out.

Eluded - Alluded... LOL

Q

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