ptsd Purple Heart For Ptsd

[judymb711]

Hi everyone. I am the daughter of a deceased WWI vet. I have been trying for 30 years to obtain the Purple Heart for injuries he sustained as a POW. I have been continually turned down because I cannot produce a doctors statement of injuries. Well, I don't think he was treated by a Nazi doctor. I have produced everything else, including witness statements, but no luck, in fact they told me not to bother to reapply. I thought I remembered reading that they had changed the criteria for awarding the medal to veterans with PTSD just this September, but I cannot find a definitive answer after 3 days of searching. I have a paper that states he was declared 30% disabled due to a "nervous condition" and I have a psychiatrist report that describes him post-war as being nervous, pacing, cannot be in a confined space, cannot ride in a car without driving himself, etc. Can anyone tell me if they did change the criteria to include PTSD for the Purple Heart or not?

[judymb711]

Oh lordy, yes it should have read WWII and I've been trying to procure the Purple Heart for him for 40 years not 30. I did get the POW medal. I understand the controversy about the Purple Heart and PTSD. I think I can prove PTSD and I keep thinking that I read just recently where they had also added PTSD I will take evandc's word for it because that is the straightest answer I have gotten .But again, they turn me down every time because I can't produce proof that he was examined. The Purple Heart criteria specifically recognizes an injury from bail-out, as which was the case with my father. I have a statement from his navigator who witnessed it. But I'm certain he wasn't examined by a doctor at the scene when the Home Guard picked him up and turned him over to the Nazi's, or by a Nazi doctor at the stalag. I think it ridiculous to keep telling me I have to produce a medical record when there is no possible way there would be one. Here is the thing about the special rules for POWs. If they were abused by their captors, they are eligible and I could probably get by with a witness statement. I do know that he was beaten during initial interrogation, but the witness statement I have is not for that, it is for the bail-out injury. Sorry about the WWI thing. I guess I've been researching too long!

[carlie]

Hi everyone. I am the daughter of a deceased WWI vet.

I have been trying for 30 years to obtain the Purple Heart for injuries he sustained as a POW.

I have been continually turned down because I cannot produce a doctors statement of injuries.

Well, I don't think he was treated by a Nazi doctor. I have produced everything else, including witness statements, but no luck,

in fact they told me not to bother to reapply.

I thought I remembered reading that they had changed the criteria for awarding the medal to veterans with PTSD just this September,

but I cannot find a definitive answer after 3 days of searching.

I have a paper that states he was declared 30% disabled due to a "nervous condition" and I have a psychiatrist report

that describes him post-war as being nervous, pacing, cannot be in a confined space, cannot ride in a car without driving himself, etc.

Can anyone tell me if they did change the criteria to include PTSD for the Purple Heart or not?

judy - the way I am understanding your post above, is that you are trying to get a purple heart awarded to

you dad posthumously - due to injuries he received while being a POW - is this correct ?

[Loose Cannon]

Here's a link from the DAV website regarding the Army's change of policy for awarding a Purple Heart for TBI (concussive injury). Not sure why one branch of the service should be any different than others. A change in policy like this (if enacted) should be across the board, not just for army vets...Can you tell I was prior Marine Corps?!

http://www.dav.org/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=461

Also...Check out the Military Order of the Purple Heart's website...all requirements are STRICTLY ENFORCED.

http://www.purpleheart.org/Default.aspx

LC

[carlie]

A change in policy like this (if enacted) should be across the board, not just for army vets...

Can you tell I was prior Marine Corps?!

LC

LC,

Poor guy - - had to be a jarhead.

Just that alone . . .

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should warrant SC for major depression : -)

[Loose Cannon]

LC,

Poor guy - - had to be a jarhead.

Just that alone . . .

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should warrant SC for major depression : -)

Carlie,

You might have something there! Ha-ha-ha...yuk, yuk, yuk

LC

[judymb711]

judy - the way I am understanding your post above, is that you are trying to get a purple heart awarded to

you dad posthumously - due to injuries he received while being a POW - is this correct ?

He died at the age of 49 in 1970. I have been trying to get the medal posthumously for him since then. I knew of injuries during capture and while a POW, but I don't have a witness statement to those. I was told about it when I met his co-pilot several years ago and was not smart enough to have him write it down for me. However, he was injured during the parachute landing and I do have an eye-witness account from his navigator. But they deny the medal because I do not have a statement that he was medically treated. I think common sense would tell anyone that he wasn't treated and if he was, there wouldn't be any record. Now if he was injured while a POW, the rules say I would only need an eye-witness statement. He was immediately captured when he was cut out of a tree. To me, I think this should all be taken under consideration, considering injuries upon bail-out are considered eligible and injuries while a POW are eligible with an eye-witness statement and no medical statement. I feel they are leaving me in the space between the time he was injured when he hit the tree and the time they cut him down, which was minutes.