Shell wounds listed as 'noncombat'..booby trap casualties denied Purple Heart medal

[MORTARDUDE]

December 6, 2003

Iraq Casualty Count Challenged

Lawmaker: Shell wounds listed as 'noncombat'

Source: Knight Ridder Newspapers

GULFPORT, Miss. -- An influential Mississippi congressman has raised the possibility that the Pentagon has undercounted combat casualties in Iraq after he learned that five members of the Mississippi National Guard who were injured Sept. 12 by a booby trap in Iraq were denied Purple Heart medals.

The guardsmen were wounded by an artillery shell that detonated as their convoy passed the tree in which it was hidden, but their injuries were classified as "noncombat," according to Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss. Taylor, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, learned of the classification when he visited the most seriously injured of the guardsmen, Spc. Carl Sampson, 35, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

"How could no one have caught this?" Taylor asked.

On Nov. 20, shortly after visiting Sampson, Taylor brought the matter to the attention of Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Purple Hearts quickly were awarded.

But Taylor said the incident raised concerns that Iraq combat casualties had been understated. He said Myers told him he'd been made aware of similar oversights.

"I'm probably going to send a memo out to the rest of the members of Congress and ask if anyone has had a similar incident," Taylor said Friday. "I just don't want to see anyone else who's been injured get cheated about their Purple Heart."

Defense Department statistics show that as of Thursday, some 2,150 service members had been wounded in action in Iraq, while 354 were injured in nonhostile incidents. Of 441 service members who've died in Iraq, 304 are listed as killed in hostile action; 137 deaths resulted from nonhostile action.

A Pentagon spokesman said the decision to award the Purple Heart was made at a unit level and that he couldn't explain how the misclassification occurred.

Members of the Mississippi National Guard were mystified. "Sampson should have already been awarded a Purple Heart," said Lt. Col. Tim Powell, a spokesman for the Guard. "An improvised explosive device built and placed with the intent to harm American soldiers is hostile."

Sampson, who sustained shrapnel wounds to his face and arms, is now hospitalized in Tampa, Fla.

[Keith_Hixson]

Make judgements that affect us all. Its amazing how much power the pen has in the hands of some secretary or clerk.

I'm absolutely certain it was a clerical error that prevented these purple hearts from being awarded. I'm sure it wasn't Army policy and the corrections were made when brought to the attention of the proper authorities.

The point being, sometimes the Army, Navy, or Marines gets blamed when it really was a decision of some little paper pusher down the line. Lots of problems with the VA are the result of some paper pusher down the line and not necessarily VA policy. However, in someway it is the fault of the Major Institution.

Keith

[reconeil]

Besides,...wouldn't it be quite asinine believing that anyone killed by a booby-trap in WWII, Korea or Vietnam wasn't combat related, and thusly didn't at minimum qualify for a Purple Heart? ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK A PURPLE HEART UNWARRANTED!!!

After all Friends,...whether suffered by AK47's, RPG's, mines or booby-traps while Serving Country in hostile Indian Territory,...death and maimings are death and maimings. No ifs, ands or buts.

Plus, the currently quite stupid logic of qualifying deaths and woundings in a combat zone pre-supposes that all PREVIOUS Purple Hearts were acquired in hand to hand combat, charging a machine or Howitzer head-on or such. And,...anyone with even half-a-brain must know full well that such acts weren't why most Purple Hearts in history were awarded?

In fact, if one were to go along with such stupid beaurocrats,...my guestimate is that about 50% of all Purple Hearts received in history would have to be returned. I WOULD JUST L-O-O-O-V-E to see those lamo beaurocrats try and get some Purple Hearts back from some WWII, Korea or Vietnam types,...since unwarranted and/or received INCORRECTLY.

Maybe then,...some beaurocrats might understand what combat is truly all about? Hey,...even dummies understand a good rap-in-the-mouth, and especially when truly warranted.

Neil