Pearland is about 10 miles from scenic Alvin.
Short of Purple Hearts, Navy tells vet to buy own | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "PEARLAND — Korean War veteran Nyles Reed, 75, opened an envelope last week to learn a Purple Heart had been approved for injuries he sustained as a Marine on June 22, 1952.
But there was no medal. Just a certificate and a form stating that the medal was 'out of stock.'
'I can imagine, of course, with what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, there's a big shortage,' Reed said. 'At least, I would imagine so.'
The form letter from the Navy Personnel Command told Reed he could wait 90 days and resubmit an application, or buy his own medal."
9 comments:
Should he just go down to the Purple Heart Store at the mall and get one?
Sheesh. This is unbelievable.
Sad, but, I suppose, true.
Welcome to Reagan-Lite's America.
You can buy these medals at surplus stores or eBay. Which reminds sme, I never got my Vietnam medals. Still, this guy deserves to have one presented to him. Another example of Uncle Sam's kindness toward veterans.
I'd hate for the guy to have to go to eBay for his medal. The gov should step up.
Quite a while ago - it must be a couple of decades now - I remember a piece on the CBC news about how the Canadian government had all of these medals from World War II - mostly campaign medals and Victory Medals - each with the name of the soldier who earned it stamped on the rim. It seems that a lot of soldiers coming back from the war were so anxious to get demobbed that they didn't bother to pick up their medals. And yet the government had them waiting, all the men had to do was to apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs and they'd be mailed out. Presumably the same thing exists for our soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan (though most of them are regulars and will get their medals). You'd think that in a country involved in a war there'd be a surplus of a medal as commonly needed as the Purple Heart they'd be ordering a surplus rather than allowing a shortage to develop.
That would be a good idea, but I guess it never occurred to anybody.
As anyone of the Bushes' station can tell you, it doesn't Do to spoil the hired help. Also, there was no good way to make a 50,000% markup on the badges for Halliburton.
What I want to know is, how do I get in on this?
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