Ask Dave & Luke: Should soldiers with PTSD get a Purple Heart?

Does Post Traumatic Stress Disorder qualify a soldier for a Purple Heart?

Marine Sgt. Nathan Sutton told KING-5 he was blown up six times during his three deployments to Iraq and now suffers with PTSD and a traumatic brain injury. He believes he and other soldiers like him deserve a Purple Heart because they were injured in combat.

Currently, the medal is awarded to soldiers who were physically injured.

Sutton said not every soldier with PTSD should get a Purple Heart, but those who were in combat should be considered.

Luke believes trying to figure out who was and who wasn’t heroic might be a “dicey proposition” and also wonders why PTSD seems to prevalent in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“You didn’t hear about every single guy who came home from WWII having PTSD.”

But Dave disputed, explaining to Luke that it’s always been around, we just didn’t recognize it as a serious disorder.

“No because they suppressed it. It was called ‘shell shock’ back then and it was just something that happened,” Dave said. “They didn’t treat it, but I think you’ll find plenty of stories if you scratch the surface of marriages that were changed, of men who never would talk to their kids about what happened over there, of men who became closed and distant from their families…It was considered to be not manly to complain that ‘I’m having nightmares and it’s somehow associated with battle’ even though it could change your life every bit as much as losing an arm.”

The topic prompted many listeners to write into the show on Tuesday.

Bob in Steilacoom writes…

I am retired military and you have it all wrong on the Purple Heart. It is for injuries suffered in combat. It doesn’t matter if you are in the chow hall and it gets bombed, you are wounded in combat. You do not have to be saving a life to earn it. Yes PTSD and TBI should qualify for a Purple Heart as long as you are in a combat zone. Iraq and Afghanistan is all combat all the time. There are no front lines you can be injured or killed at any place and any time.

Kent at Joint Base Lewis McChord writes…

I am a healthcare professional with multiple deployments. The Purple Heart has no “valor” requirement; we jokingly refer to it as the “enemy marksmanship badge.” The only requirement is that you are wounded as a direct result of enemy action. You could conceivably receive one because you were shot while running away from a fight. I do believe that Soldiers and Marines that receive a Traumatic Brain Injury because of IEDs should be eligible for the award. I don’t think that everyone that has been to Iraq or Afghanistan and now has some sort of behavioral health issue should receive a Purple Heart. The bottom line is the approval authorities need to be deliberate with who they give the award to.

Walter in Renton writes…

About the purple heart discussion, I’m an Iraq war vet, I was there ’06 to ’07, during the surge. We (my platoon) went through a lot IED’s and EFP’s. We lost three men out of our platoon of 35 men and now I suffer from TBI and PTSD. I do not agree with giving Purple Hearts to PTSD suffers because many guys suffering from PTSD never were in combat. Many people claim PTSD just because a mortar landed 50 feet from his or her position in the base. I know military officials would be politically correct and give those Purple Hearts to every one, and that would disgrace the value and purpose of such an award. Personally, it would not feel right to accept it, since I saw brothers die and loosing hands, legs, and other body parts and for that, they were awarded the Purple Heart.

Pam in Tukwila writes…

This award is earned by being wounded or killed in combat. No heroics are required. It is not awarded for injuries such as trench foot or auto accidents. It sounds like the injury also needs to be directly connected to service and proximate in time. For instance, I know several men who have died in the last 10 years of cancer related to Agent Orange. They do no get Purple Hearts.

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