Posted on Jul 9, 2015
Group: No Purple Hearts for Oklahoma City bombing victims. Your thoughts?
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Officials from the veterans service organization released a statement Wednesday calling the attack a tragic moment in American history but said it had "nothing to do with combat on the battlefield or international terrorism," making the fallen troops ineligible for the award.
"The criteria for award of the Purple Heart medal has been constant and clear — it is awarded only to those who are killed or wounded in combat," the group said in a statement.
Ignoring those rules "would cheapen the intent and importance of the Purple Heart medal and denigrate its meaning for those who have received it for their sacrifices."
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/07/08/ndaa-purple-heart-oklahoma-city-bombing-victims-albert-p-murrah-federal-building/29864009/
"The criteria for award of the Purple Heart medal has been constant and clear — it is awarded only to those who are killed or wounded in combat," the group said in a statement.
Ignoring those rules "would cheapen the intent and importance of the Purple Heart medal and denigrate its meaning for those who have received it for their sacrifices."
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/07/08/ndaa-purple-heart-oklahoma-city-bombing-victims-albert-p-murrah-federal-building/29864009/
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
It all comes down to classification. We have seen this happen several times when it comes to terrorist attacks committed by Americans. Look at the Fort Hood shootings a few years ago. It took a while for those service members to be given the correct classification.
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SFC (Join to see)
If memory serves correct though, the reason the Ft Hood Soldiers got the Purple Heart was because he had ties to international terrorism and claimed to have committed the attack in response and to prevent soldiers from going to wage war on "innocent" (his words) muslims.
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SGT Ben Keen
SFC (Join to see) - I don't know the final "official" reason as to the change in classification when it comes to the Ft Hood shooting but regardless, these terrorists within, regardless of direct connection to international terrorism or not are often only classified as "crazed gunman" and therefore, people who under different circumstances would have been issued the Purple Heart that day must wait weeks, months, years to receive the proper care and classification they deserve.
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Oklahoma City bombing was the act of an Americans against Americans for political reasons, worse those responsible are cowards because they targeted individuals that were defenseless.
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