Please settle an argument. My bf, who has experience in these matters, says that no one wants one. Fair enough, that's not the argument though. He says the soldiers that get one are stupid. They weren't doing what they were suppossed to otherwise they wouldn't have been injured. They have failed the mission. They did something wrong. They're idiots. I find that preposterous.
Thoughts?
2007-08-07 05:46:46 · 17 answers · asked by reblrosek9 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
To call them stupid is utterly ridiculous.It is a war the soldiers are fighting in.What if they get ambushed?What about the poor souls that don't survive?I'm afraid your boyfriend is the one who is stupid!
2007-08-07 05:56:11 · answer #1 · answered by Ron Burgundy 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well; he's right in the fact that no one wants one. Soldiers tease each other about them (all in love, though) and call them the "slow movers award" just to get a laugh. However; they would never say something derogatory to someone who has a Purple Heart in seriousness or call them an idiot. People have earned Purple Hearts for shrapnel wounds when an IED/EFP goes off under their vehicle. How do you avoid that when they are buried underground and you can't see them? You can't; so to call them stupid or idiots or to say they did something wrong is utterly ridiculous and just not true.
2007-08-07 13:22:04 · answer #2 · answered by april 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
soldiers put their lives on the line everyday, and many get hurt when they were doing all they can do do their job, they in no way what so ever have failed the mission or did anything wrong. though nobody goes to war wanting a purple heart or wanting to be injured, to be awarded one for serving your country and getting injured in the process is a very high honor.
2007-08-07 19:01:44 · answer #3 · answered by gina.alvarez1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I'm not a soldier but I plan on going to West Point and my uncle is Special Forces. One of his friends was blown up by an IED and lost both of his legs. I'm not sure of the technical term for this, But something along the lines of his windpipe collapsed and no medics were around. Him being a medic himself took a knife and opened his own. No I do not think people who get purple hearts are idiots, and tell your bf he is an idiodic dickweed.
2007-08-07 13:38:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to tell troops the same thing - "if you get a Purple Heart you ****** up because our job is to not get our *** shot!" That's just Sarge's way of saying "be careful guys" without sounding like a p****.
That said, there are many who earned theirs by fully consciously sacrificing for their friends. You can't help but drop a tear and raise a glass for any soldier that, knowing full well that he is going to be maimed or killed, steps into the line for his friends. HooF'nRah!
Nobody wants a Purple Heart, the qualification is extreme. This is one too that not many soldiers (Marines, sailors, airman) harbor any disrespect for.
2007-08-07 14:47:01 · answer #5 · answered by CoachT 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Obviously the most purple hearts given out right now are to military personnel who were either hit by an IED or a stray mortar. Now how are they idiots if it is something they can't control? However he is right, no one wants to get one, but not for the reasons he is stating.
2007-08-07 13:44:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can be the smartest Soldier in the world. When the Artillery starts landing shrapnel is flying everywhere.
The only way to be sure not to get hit is not to go there.
Even then you can still get hit because the enemy usually tries to hit base camps.
So you are sitting on the crapper when a 107mm hits,
What did yo do wrong?
2007-08-07 13:30:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your boyfriend sounds like an idiot, if this post is actually true. I agree with him that no soldier wants to get one since to get one you have to be injured. I can't imagine any military personnel who would want to be injured to get a Purple Heart--except for John Kerry who somehow earned 3 in less than 3 months. That's either, as your boyfriend says "stupid" or intentional or bogus--none of those are any good.
My uncle, who received his Purple Heart posthumously in WWII, happened to be working the radio next to the officers who were the target when the grenade went off. He just happened to be in the way.
2007-08-07 12:54:31 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
As a retired professional soldier I find your boyfriend's comments to be indicative of severe stupidity. Sure, no one wants to get wounded in battle, but to carry that on to say that all the people who were wounded were stupid is blindly ignorant of the forces in a battle. Sounds to me like he would be hiding in a hole somewhere instead of performing his job as a soldier.
My suggestion, move on to a different man who has a little understanding and compassion.
2007-08-07 13:14:19 · answer #9 · answered by yes_its_me 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
You can tell you boyfriend who has never served in a line unit that he is so wrong his parents need to be slapped for giving birth to him. Nobody wants one because you have to be wounded to get one. I know of no one that did anything wrong to be wounded. If he can give ONE example I would like to hear it.
2007-08-07 13:04:11 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋