[url]http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/10/09/local_news/SPURPLE09.htm[/url]

So what do you think?


Edited to fix link

Fudge him.

Tuesday, October 9, 2001  Go to: S M T W T F S  

E-mail the story | Plain-text for printing  

In protest, veteran will smash his Purple Heart

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - A Vietnam veteran said he plans to smash his Purple Heart with a sledgehammer to protest the Defense Department's decision to award the medal to all U.S. military personnel killed or wounded in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I had great pride in my Purple Heart. It was the only symbol of honor, pride and recognition my country had for my conscious effort in the war," Angel Rosario said. "Now it has been watered down to the status of a Boy Scout's merit badge."

Rosario said on Thursday he will dust off the Purple Heart he received after four bullets hit him during a 1969 ambush near Quang Tri. He plans to carry his medal to the city's Colonial Industrial Quarter - a site he chose because of its historical significance - and smash it.

"I do not belittle the events that took place" Sept. 11, said Rosario, 51. "It was horrific, and the men and women who perished should be honored. But leave the Purple Heart to the soldiers who consciously fight and die for America."

He's ignorant.

It clearly states in the regulations, that if a servicemember is wounded in a terrorist attack, they rate the medal. Period.

He obviously has some problems.

I suppose these peace keepers
didn't deserve it either:
[url]http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/terror.htm[/url]

I wonder why he didn't complain
when
54 Purple Hearts were
awarded to Sailors
(or their families)
who either died or were injured
aboard the USS Cole??

^

Dear Mr. Rosario -

You NOW have your fifteen minutes of fame. Please sit down and shut up so all the attention deprived chiddren can get theirs.

Signed,

A grateful nation

What amazes me the most about military culture is that people worry about stupid metal medallions and who has what and who doesn't.  Getting shot and / or dying should be done because you have a stake in it, not because you were conscripted into the military or were a nameless cog in an undefended machine.  

The guy is obviously just bitter because he was stupid enough to go along with what the government wanted--he bought into a modern myth that patriotism = dying for the state.

They should at least pay soldiers what they're worth instead of hypnotizing them with dancing bullshit.

What do you want to bet that we soon hear that this guy is a fraud and never set foot in Vietnam or even a military uniform.

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