Morale: No Place For Heroes

[Valin]

Strategy Page:

October 2, 2015:

 

There is another effort to get the U.S. government to allow military personnel to receive combat awards for bravery fighting terrorists and risking their lives outside of combat zones. The current drive is the result of an August, 2015 incident in which three Americans were lauded as heroes for charging and taking down an Islamic terrorist on a train in Belgium. The terrorist was armed with guns and a knife and one of the three Americans involved was badly injured. Two of those American were military (one air force and the other an army reservist with combat zone experience in Afghanistan). The current political debate is over whether the airman (Spencer Stone) is eligible for a combat valor award. Stone was awarded a Purple Heart (meant for combat wounds) but the U.S. government still refuses to recognize what he encountered as a combat situation. Most combat veterans disagree, pointing out that Stone took on an armed Islamic terrorist, helped subdue him and was badly injured by the terrorist in the process.

 

Stone’s air force job was medical technician, which involves operating and maintaining medical equipment. The air force thought enough of Stone’s bravery and initiative (including saving the life of another passenger who was also wounded by the terrorist and in danger of bleeding to death) by promoting Stone to NCO rank (Staff Sergeant) which takes him up two grades (E-3 to E-5). That means sergeant Stone now makes $6,000 more a year. More importantly the young (23 year old) sergeant Stone is now seen by the air force as a resourceful, fearless and energetic team player able to succeed under stressful conditions.

 

It was only in early 2015 that the U.S. government finally agreed to award Purple Hearts for military personnel wounded by terrorists outside a combat zone. This decision was the result of years of public and political pressure resulting from a 2009 Islamic terrorist attack in Texas that left 13 dead and 32 wounded. The U.S. government continues to insist that this incident had nothing to do with religion but was simply a case of workplace violence. Many of the 32 surviving victims of the 2009 attack in Ft. Hood are complaining, without success, that they are receiving less attention (and money) for their injuries because they did not get a Purple Heart medal. The Purple Heart medal is the U.S. military award for combat wounds and it entitles soldiers to higher compensation and more prompt medical attention. The decision not to award Purple Hearts to the Ft. Hood victims is at the center of a controversy between politicians who are trying to play down the presence of Islamic radicalism in the United States and military leaders who want recognition for American troops killed or wounded by Islamic terrorism. While victims of domestic terrorism can receive the Purple Heart, the U.S. government has several times refused to categorize the November 5, 2009 attack in Ft. Hood as a terrorist action.

 

(Snip)