Purple Heart Research Paper

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Since 1932, the United States military has upheld a special tradition for injured soldiers. Their tradition commemorates members who have been physically harmed in the line of duty with the Purple Heart. Recently, there have been some skeptics who believe that the increasing number of soldiers diagnosed with psychological disabilities like PSTD (post-traumatic stress disorder) deserve the same recognition. This issue was recently brought to an advisory group at the Pentagon who made the decision that soldiers with PTSD would not be eligible to receive the Purple Heart. According to Michael Sandel in Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do, there are strong points in both arguments, but the biggest difference between the pro-PTSD and those opposed…show more content…
Think of all instances of war; injuries after injuries are portrayed in the media or history as calamitous. The horrors of war will always be worn on these soldiers, for as long as they live. The images seen in the media and descriptions wrote about in letters of soldiers to their family intensify empathetic feelings. As a result, the government needed to honor these individuals, the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart serves the purpose of commemorating the sacrifice others have made, the bloodshed they have faced, and the time they spent submerged in extreme hostile conditions. A veteran group known as the Military Order of the Purple Heart claim that extending the honor to soldiers with psychological injuries would take away from the so-called “true meaning” (Sandel, 2009). These mothers, sons, daughters, and fathers have surrendered their well-being for others to be free. It’s only fair and important they receive a symbol of America’s appreciation for their physical injuries in turn for the safety of millions of Americans. Many who favor only physically injured soldiers being awarded the Purple Heart turn to the defense of the ambiguous and unclear diagnoses of psychological injuries, and war enemies not intentionally forcing these injuries. Symptoms of PTSD have the ability to show weeks, months, even years after a soldier has returned from battle. There is also no evidence that any specific actions taken by the enemy are to harm the mental health of a soldier (“PTSD and the Purple
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