Former POWs now eligible for posthumous Purple Hearts

[soccermark23]

Former POWs now eligible for posthumous Purple Hearts
by Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

10/8/2008 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- A policy change to expand eligibility for the Purple Heart award to prisoners of war who died in captivity represents the right decision that recognizes their sacrifice, a senior defense official said.

Pentagon officials announced the new policy Oct. 6 that will extend criteria for receiving Purple Hearts to prisoners of war who have died in captivity since the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

"The Purple Heart is an award worn with great pride and recognizes that the servicemember has been wounded or killed as a result of enemy action," said Samuel Reterford, the Pentagon's deputy director of officer personnel management.

The revision maintains the integrity of the award while allowing a reasonable presumption that servicemembers who die in captivity did so as a result of enemy action or complicity, he said.

Mr. Reterford noted that the conditions and circumstances of capture and captivity are difficult to document. But unless compelling evidence indicates otherwise, the policy assumes that the death resulted from enemy action or from wounds incurred as a result of enemy action during capture.

The new policy will allow retroactive award of the Purple Heart to qualifying POWs since World War II. This will cover the large number of American POWs who died in captivity during that war, Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said.

Extension of the Purple Heart to these POWs does not constitute dual recognition for the same act or service, Ms. Lainez emphasized.

"The POW Medal recognizes honorable service for members who endure the trials and tribulations associated with being a POW," she said. "The Purple Heart recognizes servicemembers who are wounded or killed in action with the enemy or as a result of enemy action."

Each military department will publish application procedures for retroactive Purple Heart awards. Family members with questions may contact the services directly: Air Force, 800-616-3775; Army, 703-325-8700; Navy, 314-592-1150; Marine Corps, 703-784-9340.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123118859

I found this article on the Air Force web site and thought it to be very appropriate for our little forum. I have to say that I agree with the decision and the reasoning behind extending the award to those who died in POW Camps. No, we will never know all of the exact circumstances for each and every service-member who died in these scenarios, but I believe, more often then not, that their deaths could be directly linked to actions of their captors.

[FeelinFroggy]

I found this article on the Air Force web site and thought it to be very appropriate for our little forum. I have to say that I agree with the decision and the reasoning behind extending the award to those who died in POW Camps. No, we will never know all of the exact circumstances for each and every service-member who died in these scenarios, but I believe, more often then not, that their deaths could be directly linked to actions of their captors.

I agree. Like you said, we may not know the circumstances under which caused their deaths, but they died for their country nonetheless.

[SlightlyCatholic]

It's an unfortunate fact that we can rely on other nations to not play by the rules when it comes to treating our captured military members in a humane way. Those who died in POW camps simply weren't treated well and were subjected to violence, and that should be enough to earn them Purple Hearts. It's good to see them awarded.

[HairyEyeball]

Originally Posted by Seminarian_Tim

It's an unfortunate fact that we can rely on other nations to not play by the rules when it comes to treating our captured military members in a humane way. Those who died in POW camps simply weren't treated well and were subjected to violence, and that should be enough to earn them Purple Hearts. It's good to see them awarded.

On precisely what do you base this broad generalization? There was a world of difference, for example, between WW II German and Japanese prison camps - one example (from Stalag XII-B) being the fact that the although the 'guests of the Bohemian paperhanger' may have received slim rations, they were not all that different from those of the guards, and the only reported 'violence' was during a 'mission' to clear a bombed city, when a teenaged guard struck a POW's steel helmet as the individual picked up the twisted remains of a rifle from the rubble...which may be understandable, under the circumstances.

Many of the senior officers in charge of German POW camps were professional soldiers with the same standards of conduct and honor we expect from our own officers, and, especially late in the war, most of the guards teenagers and soldiers invalidated out of combat. There was - literally - a world of difference between concentration camps and POW camps. Please do not confuse the two. Obviously, the same 'western' standards did not apply to Japan, Korea or Vietnam, nor do they apply to terrorists of the factions we are at currently at war with.

[SGM]

Originally Posted by HairyEyeball

On precisely what do you base this broad generalization? There was a world of difference, for example, between WW II German and Japanese prison camps - one example (from Stalag XII-B) being the fact that the although the 'guests of the Bohemian paperhanger' may have received slim rations, they were not all that different from those of the guards, and the only reported 'violence' was during a 'mission' to clear a bombed city, when a teenaged guard struck a POW's steel helmet as the individual picked up the twisted remains of a rifle from the rubble...which may be understandable, under the circumstances.

Many of the senior officers in charge of German POW camps were professional soldiers with the same standards of conduct and honor we expect from our own officers, and, especially late in the war, most of the guards teenagers and soldiers invalidated out of combat. There was - literally - a world of difference between concentration camps and POW camps. Please do not confuse the two. Obviously, the same 'western' standards did not apply to Japan, Korea or Vietnam, nor do they apply to terrorists of the factions we are at currently at war with.

Valid points made. I don't think a broad blanket can be thrown over the POW situation or then it just makes the PH another blanket covering medal.

[SlightlyCatholic]

Originally Posted by HairyEyeball

On precisely what do you base this broad generalization? There was a world of difference, for example, between WW II German and Japanese prison camps - one example (from Stalag XII-B) being the fact that the although the 'guests of the Bohemian paperhanger' may have received slim rations, they were not all that different from those of the guards, and the only reported 'violence' was during a 'mission' to clear a bombed city, when a teenaged guard struck a POW's steel helmet as the individual picked up the twisted remains of a rifle from the rubble...which may be understandable, under the circumstances.

Many of the senior officers in charge of German POW camps were professional soldiers with the same standards of conduct and honor we expect from our own officers, and, especially late in the war, most of the guards teenagers and soldiers invalidated out of combat. There was - literally - a world of difference between concentration camps and POW camps. Please do not confuse the two. Obviously, the same 'western' standards did not apply to Japan, Korea or Vietnam, nor do they apply to terrorists of the factions we are at currently at war with.

I was simply asserting that there have existed and do exist nations that don't treat POWs the way they should. I'm not saying every POW camp is like that, or that every officer that runs a POW camp is the spawn of Satan. If a Prisoner of War dies in a prisoner of war camp, it's fairly reasonable to assume that it's because they weren't treated as they should have been. Proper medical care would have curbed most illnesses and injuries, unless those services were cut off to captured military personnel.

The active ignorance of someone's pain is the same as shooting them, and that is my rationale for asserting that someone who dies in a POW camp should receive a Purple Heart. A wound is a wound, whether the wounding is active or passive.

[HairyEyeball]

You're still missing the point.

What you may have thought you were 'asserting' is not what you wrote, and very few here read minds. You are also compounding the felony by assuming anything: People in POW camps are as likely to die of 'natural causes' as people in the comfort of their own homes - they do so every day; not all POW deaths are directly attributable to 'intent' or lack of proper medical care.

Yes, there are nations and ideologies alien to ours, which have merited the title 'barbaric', but your blanket 'rationale' reeks of sophomoric arrogance...and you still have not provided a basis for such.

[SlightlyCatholic]

What you may have thought you were 'asserting' is not what you wrote, and very few here read minds.

You have a valid point. I should have been more clear the first time, my apologies.

You are also compounding the felony by assuming anything: People in POW camps are as likely to die of 'natural causes' as people in the comfort of their own homes - they do so every day; not all POW deaths are directly attributable to 'intent' or lack of proper medical care.

Could you please cite your information? I'm not being a smart ass, I just need to see facts to back this up. Also, since the military has its own age limits and physical/medical excellence standards, I doubt anybody captured behind enemy lines would die of natural causes. Again, if you can give facts here to prove me wrong, then by all means do so.

Yes, there are nations and ideologies alien to ours, which have merited the title 'barbaric', but your blanket 'rationale' reeks of sophomoric arrogance...and you still have not provided a basis for such.

I don't see where I'm being arrogant. I realize I haven't BTDT, and I've never been to a POW camp. With that said, I just think that if POW camps don't do everything in their power to provide for the health of their captives, then they're doing a human disservice to them. Again, I see that on the same level as actively harming someone. Will there be pre-existing issues present that may cause some people to die anyway? Sure, but that's not dying from "natural causes."

[PhilK]

Originally Posted by Seminarian_Tim

Could you please cite your information? I'm not being a smart ass, I just need to see facts to back this up. Also, since the military has its own age limits and physical/medical excellence standards, I doubt anybody captured behind enemy lines would die of natural causes. Again, if you can give facts here to prove me wrong, then by all means do so.

I've never been in a POW camp, but I know of numerous Soldiers who have died suddenly due to heart attacks. One was even in my Troop as we prepared for a deployment. We had gone through two physical exams, he was over 40 so he had gotten an "extra" exam, but that didn't detect his heart condition.

I released the Troop for a 48 hour pass and the next morning his Platoon Leader was calling me telling me he had died that night.

We had been doing PT, training and everything else that normal Soldiers do. He was not overweight, and as far as I know did not have a history of hear conditions in his family, but that didn't stop his heart from giving out.

That is the one, and hopefully only, time that I have to give a flag to a weeping family member.

[HairyEyeball]

Originally Posted by Seminarian_Tim

You have a valid point. I should have been more clear the first time, my apologies.

Could you please cite your information?

I went to the source: My late father, the cited 'guest of the Bohemian paper hanger', and members of his Key Chapter, American Ex-Prisoners of War. I was honored to attend many of their functions, and on other occasions spoke with these former POWs of their experiences in German, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese camps. Where did you get your 'information'?

I don't see where I'm being arrogant.

You wouldn't.

I realize I haven't BTDT...

But many of us have, and understand the arrogance of youth and ignorance. As you gain in knowledge and experience, and possibly wisdom, you may eventually see the you of now from that perspective.