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Army formally declines Purple Hearts for Fort Hood shooting victims
Source: Reuters
Army formally declines Purple Hearts for Fort Hood shooting victims
By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO | Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:55pm EDT
(Reuters) - The U.S. Army on Friday formally declined to award Purple Heart medals to the victims of Major Nidal Hasan's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, saying the move would damage his ability to receive a fair trial.
The Army in a position paper said that awarding the medal to those wounded and posthumously to those killed in the November 2009 attack would 'set the stage for a formal declaration that Major Hasan is a terrorist' because the medal is presented to military members who are 'wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.'
Hasan, 42, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire on a group of soldiers who were preparing for deployment to Afghanistan, killing 13 and wounding 32 before he was shot and permanently paralyzed by two civilian Fort Hood police officers.
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The Army formalized its ongoing opposition to awarding the Purple Hearts in a position paper responding to language inserted in the Defense Authorization Bill, which would require the Secretary of the Army to award the medal.
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By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO | Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:55pm EDT
(Reuters) - The U.S. Army on Friday formally declined to award Purple Heart medals to the victims of Major Nidal Hasan's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, saying the move would damage his ability to receive a fair trial.
The Army in a position paper said that awarding the medal to those wounded and posthumously to those killed in the November 2009 attack would 'set the stage for a formal declaration that Major Hasan is a terrorist' because the medal is presented to military members who are 'wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.'
Hasan, 42, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire on a group of soldiers who were preparing for deployment to Afghanistan, killing 13 and wounding 32 before he was shot and permanently paralyzed by two civilian Fort Hood police officers.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
The Army formalized its ongoing opposition to awarding the Purple Hearts in a position paper responding to language inserted in the Defense Authorization Bill, which would require the Secretary of the Army to award the medal.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/29/us-usa-crime-forthood-idUSBRE92S0IW20130329
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