Criteria for a Purple Heart
Best friend no. 2 ... I'll just assign all of my best friends a designation ... sort of like the Borg. K- your designation is now 2 of 5.
Yikes, I'm digressing into Star Trek geekdom. Sorry. I will try to focus. I'm really ADD this morning. Part of it is dreading my cryosurgery tomorrow. Hell, even THAT sounds like something from Star Trek. Ok, I must watch Deep Space 9 at noon today on Spike TV. I'll schedule my lunch for that.
Sorry, I did it again. I call this Pinball thinking ... if I have to explain it, you just won't get it and it will take too long. Think about it.
Anyway. Two of Five emailed me today about an article she found explaining the criteria for earning a Purple Heart in light of Bob Dole's nasty comments to John Kerry about his purple hearts. Two of Five does NOT share my political views, but I do think this is a pretty good read.
http://www.slate.com/id/2105532/
When I was working Killeen as the education reporter, I had the pleasure of meeting three members of the Order of the Purple Heart in Killeen. They were talking to children in a classroom about their experiences and they very movingly shared the tamed-down versions of how they were wounded and where (both on their body and the location in the world at the time). It was very touching and I had to fight back the urge to cry. These men were wonderful and a credit to our country. I don't think we'll ever see a generation with as much pride and dedication as these gentlemen. Army of Dad is the exception to the rule. But, they passed around their Purple Hearts to show the children. Most of these kids are military dependents, so they were duly impressed. I was impressed at the attention these third-graders paid to these gentlemen. And, no, these men value their service ribbons and medals and didn't throw them away in any kind of protest. *sorry 2 of 5, I had to throw (pun intended) that in there.
Yikes, I'm digressing into Star Trek geekdom. Sorry. I will try to focus. I'm really ADD this morning. Part of it is dreading my cryosurgery tomorrow. Hell, even THAT sounds like something from Star Trek. Ok, I must watch Deep Space 9 at noon today on Spike TV. I'll schedule my lunch for that.
Sorry, I did it again. I call this Pinball thinking ... if I have to explain it, you just won't get it and it will take too long. Think about it.
Anyway. Two of Five emailed me today about an article she found explaining the criteria for earning a Purple Heart in light of Bob Dole's nasty comments to John Kerry about his purple hearts. Two of Five does NOT share my political views, but I do think this is a pretty good read.
http://www.slate.com/id/2105532/
When I was working Killeen as the education reporter, I had the pleasure of meeting three members of the Order of the Purple Heart in Killeen. They were talking to children in a classroom about their experiences and they very movingly shared the tamed-down versions of how they were wounded and where (both on their body and the location in the world at the time). It was very touching and I had to fight back the urge to cry. These men were wonderful and a credit to our country. I don't think we'll ever see a generation with as much pride and dedication as these gentlemen. Army of Dad is the exception to the rule. But, they passed around their Purple Hearts to show the children. Most of these kids are military dependents, so they were duly impressed. I was impressed at the attention these third-graders paid to these gentlemen. And, no, these men value their service ribbons and medals and didn't throw them away in any kind of protest. *sorry 2 of 5, I had to throw (pun intended) that in there.
3 Comments:
At 1:30 PM, August 25, 2004,
Anonymous said…
This reminds me of a Band of Brothers episode. This one guy poses for a picture while receiving a purple heart in his hospital bed. Another wounded man asks him how many he has now. The guy lifts his pillow and places the new medal with the other two he has already received. Both chuckle. A third soldier points to a severely wounded man (who later dies from his wounds) and says its a shame he only gets one. Silence rules the ward.
I get the feeling Dole has a similar emotion.
At 1:31 PM, August 25, 2004,
Anonymous said…
Dang it I keep forgetting to tag my entries.
*smacking myself*
Army of Dad
At 3:26 PM, August 25, 2004,
Gadfly said…
Well, as a counter point to Candidate Mr.Three Purple Hearts. Then Lt. Tommy Franks, a good Midland boy, came back from NAM and was determined not to give in to the war protersters in Austin. So he was getting on the plane in his dress uniform for a formal engagememnt. His mother made him explain all about the medals, the "oak leaf clusters" for winning medals such as the bronze star and silver star multiple times. And his three purple hearts, which, Franks explained, were not the only times he was injured, just the ones that put him in the hospital where paperwork would force the presentation of the medals. But he didn't tell his mother that.
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