Commentary: Republicans Insult Wounded Veterans

A wounded combat veteran awarded the Purple Heart is outraged that Republicans have mocked his Purple Heart medal and dishonored all Americans wounded in war.

The Purple Heart medal was established by George Washington in 1782 to honor soldiers wounded in the Revolutionary War. The sole criterion for being awarded this decoration is being wounded in war by the enemy. The Purple Heart honors not heroism, then, but personal sacrifice. It is the “grunts” badge recognizing sacrifice of body for your country, the democratic award that honors all troops equally for their combat wounds. That is the way George Washington wanted it.

Yet, on the floor of the Republican National Convention, Republican delegates proudly sported band-aids with little purple hearts in an attempt to diminish the significance of John Kerry’s military record and his three Purple Hearts--which stand in stark, embarrassing contrast to George Bush’s avoidance of the Vietnam War and his “yellow heart.”

The Associated Press reported: “The bandages were handed out by Morton Blackwell, a longtime GOP activist from Virginia, with the message: ‘It was just a self-inflicted scratch, but you see I got a Purple Heart for it.’”

These Republicans want Americans to believe John Kerry’s wounds were not serious enough to be taken seriously. Many military veterans resent their mocking of a Purple Heart recipitant and his decorations, charging the Republicans' behavior is reprehensible.

“This symbol [Purple Heart] is a very moving one,” said Korean War veteran and Congressman Charles Rangel. “In many of the homes of the survivors that’s all they have to remember their loved ones. Some survivors can’t see and some can’t walk. All they ask is a little dignity.”

According to retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, 3,700 Purple Hearts have been awarded in Iraq. Are Republicans mocking all 3,700 of our servicemen and women wounded in Iraq? Or only those they determine were not sufficiently wounded?

According this former Marine grunt, how dare they laugh at my Purple Heart?

George Washington was correct: a wound is a wound, and that entitles one to the award. The Purple Heart is not about the depth of the wound, not about the wound’s length, not about the quantity of blood that came from the wound. This decoration recognizes the personal sacrifice of our troops without regard to the severity or the nature of the wound. This has been the official position of the U.S. military since the days of George Washington, and this is the correct position today.

When did it become acceptable in America for our Purple Hearts to be used as political stunt to garner votes? When did veterans wounded in war become fair game for ridicule? When did slight wounds become props for political advantage? And this from Republicans (few of whom served in our military, and fewer who were wounded in war) who support a president who never went to a war that he strongly supported but took actions to avoid. This reeks of hypocrisy, and I am outraged.

The fact is, the Republican Party is out of control. Vicious and hateful, it is disrespectful and desperate, a political party that is now attacking America’s wounded veterans. And the leadership of this Party remains quiet, behind the scenes it actively works to trash our veterans. First they attacked John McCain, claiming the former POW was unfit to be President because he had been a prisoner in Vietnam; then they insisted that Max Cleland, who lost three limbs on the battlefield in Vietnam, did not sacrifice for his country; then they smeared John Kerry’s military service and dismissed his sacrifices for America. Now, Republicans are insulting all veterans who are Purple Heart recipients, every American wounded in a war.

Never could I have imagined this happening in America. Never have I witnessed antiwar demonstrators insulting military veterans as these so-called patriotic Republicans are insulting our wounded veterans. Never could I have imagined.

Stewart Nusbaumer is editor of Intervention Magazine. You can email him at Stewart@interventionmag.com

Posted Thursday, September 2, 2004