The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 7, February 13, 2005, Article 14

PURPLE HEARTS REVOKED

<From a lengthy article in the Kansas City Star:
"Almost two years after 65 tons of U.S. tank rumbled over
Marine Cpl. Travis Eichelberger early in the Iraq invasion, the
military has delivered another crushing blow.

"Subj.: Revocation of the Purple Heart," read the subject line
at the top of a one-page memo mailed to the Atchison man
just before Christmas.

Eichelberger was among 11 Marines who were notified that
the injuries they suffered were not "caused directly or indirectly
by combat" and thus did not merit the medals pinned on them
in 2003.

"You give out 11 Purple Hearts and then take them away?"
Eichelberger said Tuesday after the revocations became widely
known. "How come they didn't figure out my injury was deemed
an accident when they handed out the medals?"

"Marine Gen. William Nyland pinned the Purple Heart to the left
shoulder of Eichelberger's hospital gown.

Eichelberger on Tuesday showed reporters at his home a snapshot
taken of the April 5 presentation, along with a photo taken later
of President Bush visiting his hospital bed.

The medal on Tuesday sat in an open black case on a coffee
table in his parents' Atchison home. Eichelberger said he wasn't
certain what he was supposed to do with it now. He assumes
that he can keep it but that the designation will be lifted from
his service record."

"The Purple Heart originated with George Washington, whose
profile is seen on the medal. It is given far more widely than
other combat medals, such as the Bronze or Silver Star awards,
which are presented for heroism and require nominations."

"Eichelberger, a lifelong Atchison resident who was his high
school's homecoming king, came home to a hero's welcome a
month after he was hurt. Nearly 400 people gathered in a
church parking lot to hold signs and ask to see his Purple Heart.

He once wore the ribbon on a visit to a grade school in
Washington."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum