Bury Their Purple Hearts at Ft. Hood

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Bury Their Purple Hearts at Ft. Hood
Townhall.com ^ | January 11, 2014 | Larry Provost
Posted on 1/11/2014 1:44:24 PM by Kaslin



Sometimes heroes are not recognized when they should be. The case of COL (RET) Kathy Platoni, and her fellow survivors and victims of the Ft. Hood Terrorist Attack of November, 2009, is a sad example of this. The prevalence of political correctness is not helping in this situation. COL Platoni believes she is far from alone and that there are many heroes of this horrific terrorist attack who remain forgotten.

Dr. Platoni, a now retired Army Reserve psychologist who has had her own private practice for 20 years and has been a practicing psychologist for 34 years, has had a distinguished military career. She served in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom in both Afghanistan and at Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She also provided counseling for first responders of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City. If that was not enough, Dr. Platoni survived the Ft. Hood Terrorist Attack and lives with the memories of her colleagues and Soldiers who died that day. She watched some of them die, powerless to do anything because their wounds were fatal.

The Soldiers who died at the Ft. Hood Terrorist Attack were not awarded Purple Hearts for giving their lives in service to their country. The administration refuses to label the Ft. Hood Terrorist Attack as a terrorist attack even though the terrorist, Major Hasan, states his actions were very clearly acts of Islamic terrorism.

The award of the Purple Heart is not only a tangible symbol of physical sacrifice, but the award opens up a door of benefits such as priority of Department of Veteran’s Affairs Medical Care, burial at Arlington National Cemetery, and a host of other benefits. However, the administration labels the Ft. Hood Terrorist Attack as “workplace violence” that were acts of a disgruntled employee. It also says that labeling the Ft. Hood Terrorist Attack as a terrorist attack would not ensure a fair trial for the accused. Good grief.

The Purple Heart is not the only award that is missing from the personnel records of the Ft. Hood heroes. Those who were wounded, and those who were not wounded but escaped the attack, are likely eligible for the Combat Action Badge (CAB) or possibly even the Combat Medical Badge (CMB). The non- infantry equivalent of the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB), the CAB and CMB are awarded to those engaged by the enemy. Like the Purple Heart and the CIB, the CAM and CMB also open up priority care and other benefits.

There is more than enough precedent for these awards to be given:

First and foremost, there is common sense and decency.

Second, those killed and wounded at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 were awarded the Purple Heart for a terrorist attack that occurred on inside the United States. Ft. Hood meets the same criteria.

Third, the military commonly issues awards, like the Soldier’s Medal, for actions performed even after duty hours such as saving a drowning civilian. In fact, CPT John Gaffaney, who died at COL Platoni’s knees as she and her brave colleagues tried desperately to save him, was awarded the Soldier’s Medal posthumously one year to the date of the Fort Hood Terrorist Attack.

Fourth, the military oath of enlistment states that a Soldier will defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.” If the terrorist who killed soldiers at Ft. Hood, in the name of the enemy that the soldiers were getting ready to leave Ft. Hood to combat, was not a domestic enemy, there are no domestic enemies.

It is time the administration reversed course, threw away political correctness, and awarded these heroes their Purple Hearts and appropriate Combat Action Badges and other awards. Anything less amounts to a continued travesty of justice for those killed in action, their families, the wounded, the survivors, and the first responders.

I'm sorry but the goverment is right on this one

Investigators in the FBI and U.S. Army determined that Hasan acted alone and they have found no evidence of links to terrorist groups. They are satisfied that his communications with Awlaki posed no threat at the time

The troops at Fort Hood were attack by a american soldier, a american citizen at the time of the shooting not military personnel of another country or a citizen of another country. he was never charged with being a terrorist, he was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder, 32 counts of attempted murder, and unanimously recommended Hasan be formally dismissed from the service and sentenced to death.

When someone in the US military murders someone in the US military, without links that the murderer is under the direct control of a enemy state or organization. the murdered person does not get a purple heart.
If they were a person under the direct control of a enemy state or organization, those people would be considered killed, not murdered.
there no such thing as murdered in action.

Sometimes it's just mass murder not terrorism.

That is splitting hairs. In a traditional war you can follow those rules but in a religious jihad where the enemy is not clearly defined and can come from many sources it is inappropriate. I will agree this was not combat but rather the murder of people not expecting to be attacked. However, they were killed by a person claiming to be a terrorist and they were military personnel. They sadly were not the first and will not be the last to be killed by a traitor or spy in a surprise attack. They deserve the Purple Heart award.

That is splitting hairs. In a traditional war you can follow those rules but in a religious jihad where the enemy is not clearly defined and can come from many sources it is inappropriate. I will agree this was not combat but rather the murder of people not expecting to be attacked. However, they were killed by a person claiming to be a terrorist and they were military personnel. They sadly were not the first and will not be the last to be killed by a traitor or spy in a surprise attack. They deserve the Purple Heart award. Originally Posted by Laz

Not splitting hairs at all.
First we are not at war againist a religion.
Investigators in the FBI and U.S. Army determined that Hasan acted alone and they have found no evidence of links to terrorist groups.
If a military person was murdered by a wannabe neo nazis american citizen in the US military with radicalized anti goverment views with no ties to a terrorist group, would you consider that a terrorist act, or just plain murder.

Not splitting hairs at all.
First we are not at war againist a religion.
Investigators in the FBI and U.S. Army determined that Hasan acted alone and they have found no evidence of links to terrorist groups.
If a military person was murdered by a wannabe neo nazis american citizen in the US military with radicalized anti goverment views with no ties to a terrorist group, would you consider that a terrorist act, or just plain murder. Originally Posted by dreamvacationdates

saysadreamyOzombie....

saysadreamyOzombie.... Originally Posted by IIFFOFRDB

It has nothing to do with Obama, if you can't see that, then you have issues
If you can't see past the emotional feel good view and see it from a logical standpoint you'll never understand why
by using the term Ozombie shows using a logical approach may not be up to the task for you.

You are right about the fact that "I have issues"....

As a combat veteran in Vietnam who got all blowed up and received a Purple Heart, I feel like I have earned the right to say that these soldiers at Ft Hood were not heros, they were victims.

If they had been in a combat zone or another situation where there was a reliable expectation that harm could result, then yes. But sitting and eating breakfast at Ft Hood IS NOT a place where you would have any more expectation of danger befalling you than if you were in a diner downtown.

By the way. I do not consider myself a "hero" either. I just happenned to be the guy that hit the trip wire.

To claim that the terrorist attack at Ft Hood was little more than workplace violence is a disgrace to every person in the military and should be to all citizens of this nation.
Have they put that bastard to death yet and buried him inside the carcass of a pig?

The political correctness of the military has caused more problems than it has ever solved.

To claim that the terrorist attack at Ft Hood was little more than workplace violence is a disgrace to every person in the military and should be to all citizens of this nation.
Have they put that bastard to death yet and buried him inside the carcass of a pig?

The political correctness of the military has caused more problems than it has ever solved. Originally Posted by The2Dogs

Making it more than what it was would be even more of a disgrace.

jihad plain and simple... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad

HAHAHAHAHA! iffyyyy probably has no idea what the article's title refers to.

Not splitting hairs at all.
First we are not at war againist a religion.
Investigators in the FBI and U.S. Army determined that Hasan acted alone and they have found no evidence of links to terrorist groups.
If a military person was murdered by a wannabe neo nazis american citizen in the US military with radicalized anti goverment views with no ties to a terrorist group, would you consider that a terrorist act, or just plain murder. Originally Posted by dreamvacationdates

Its a national disgrace. The FBI is just giving political cover to Obama. Just like they did with the Tsarnaev brothers until Putin blew their cover.

I don't know how you can say that there was no evidence of links to terror group when Hasan was in contact with al-Awlaki and we droned him. In fact, I'm reading that al-Awaki presided over Hasan's mother's funeral.

From wiki:
The Senate released a report describing the mass shooting as "the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001."[13][14]

Your neo nazi analogy would be more appropriate if it was in a 1940 time frame.

We are not at war with a religion, we are at war with a group of people who are using religion for the foundation of attacks on not just the US but other parts of the world and many people of their religion, Islam, are fully in favor of those attacks.

I can't describe terrorism to you but I know it when I see it.

This act of terrorism is demanding that the administration (if you can't see that the Obama admininstration is the source of the angst) come up with new creative ways of describing terrorism. Back before 2001 the definition used by the FBI and the UN was (paraphrasing) the use or threat of force or violence against a people in order to effect a political change by their government. That's the short version. Hasan used violence against people in revenge for the US government's attack on terrorists overseas. He admitted to this.

Even the new improved definition hangs Hasan.

18 U.S.C. § 2331 defines "international terrorism" and "domestic terrorism" for purposes of Chapter 113B of the Code, entitled "Terrorism”:
"International terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

• Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
• Appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
• Occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.*

"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

• Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
• Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
• Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.

18 U.S.C. § 2332b defines the term "federal crime of terrorism" as an offense that:

• Is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct; and
• Is a violation of one of several listed statutes, including § 930(c) (relating to killing or attempted killing during an attack on a federal facility with a dangerous weapon); and § 1114 (relating to killing or attempted killing of officers and employees of the U.S.).

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investig...ism-definition

By the way. I do not consider myself a "hero" either. I just happenned to be the guy that hit the trip wire. Originally Posted by Jackie S

In your mind you were a soldier performing his duty. Whether or not you were actually a hero is certainly debatable but consider the following:

More often than not, heroic acts result from a soldier who was merely performing his duty.

In any event, I thank you for your service and more importantly I thank you for your sacrifice!