“A quick question tossed at Defense Secretary Robert Gates — Should veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder receive the Purple Heart? — has created a maelstrom in the blogosphere. It seems the reasoning behind the idea — to lessen the stigma of mental health disorders — also works against the proposition. ‘It would lessen the meaning of the award,’ a Marine said about the military’s oldest combat medal. ‘I’d be ashamed to wear it,’ chimed in a soldier. ‘It’s an insult to those who have suffered real injury on the battlefield,’ wrote an Army intelligence officer.” [editor’s note: Real injury? During Vietnam, we know of at least one draftee who got one for getting shrapnel in his butt … sustained while the crapper he was sitting on took a mortar shell! Seems like post-traumatic stress is at least as valid! - SAT] (05/19/08)