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August 24, 2004

Discount On Million-Dollar Wounds?

This is a question. I don't know the answer. I'm hoping someone does.

We are told that John Kerry was sent back to the US after serving four months of his tour of duty because he'd received his third Purple Heart. Let's come back to that in a bit.

The Purple Heart is given out for a variety of wounds. It is
paradoxically a very difficult medal to get, and a very easy one at the same time.

In World War II, troops - especially infantrymen in Europe - stayed in action, almost without a break from when they started until the war ended. The physical and emotional costs on the soldiers, especially the infantry, were enough that the Army instituted the one-year tour of duty during Vietnam. Troops and units were very rarely pulled out of front-line service for any significant time; the men fought with only short breaks until they were killed, went mad from "battle fatigue", or were wounded badly enough to take them out of service.

That "badly enough to get out of infantry" bit is a key qualifier.

Many troops returned to action time and time again after receiving light wounds. In 1990, I edited and ghost-wrote a book of World War II memoirs for a man who fought as a platoon leader - roughly John Kerry's grade - in the bloody, horrible battle of the Huertgenwald, in 1944. After the Huertgen, his unit absorbed replacements and marched straight to the Battle of the Bulge, where the author was struck almost immediately by a mortar-shell fragment that pierced his liver, sending him to the hospital for the next five months. On discharge, he returned to his unit in a full combat capacity; the war ended as he was on his way to rejoin his company. Ambrose's Band of Brothers is full of examples of paratroopers who were wounded, spent time in the hospital, and were returned to action over and over again, to say nothing of the men who endured many, many minor fragment and bullet wounds and never left the line; there are men who came home from World War II with many, many more than three purple hearts, and many more who died getting their third, or fourth, or more.

Wounds that were bad enough to get a soldier sent out of action permanently, but that didn't maim the man too badly to destroy his life, were called "million-dollar wounds". One of those "million dollar" hits was a bullet in the foot.

During World War II, many, many men who reached the point where loyalty to their buddies wasn't enough anymore took that route out of action, quietly putting a bullet through their foot or hand while alone in a foxhole one night, blaming it on a sniper or an accidental discharge. It was illegal - but rarely prosecuted; most of their platoonmates understood why they did it. There were subtler means - getting trench foot in the horrible winter of '44 was easy, and a ticket to hospital for a long stay at the very least.

Combat is the most wrenching experiece there is. It drives men to crave horrible personal injury as a relief from the mortal stress. So, what if you gave those men an option; trading three little wounds for one big one? In an war like Vietnam, manned mostly by draftees, in one of the world's most brutal, ugly climes, which became increasingly unpopular at home as the years went by, you'd think the "million dollar wound" would be a big goal; you'd be right. It was still part of the soldier's vocabulary, according to sources I've read.

So, given those facts, would it make sense to give soldiers a chance to leave action for three *slight* wounds? Did the military give troops the chance to trade three thousand-dollar injuries for a million-dollar wound?

It seems implausible. It seems like the soft of loophole that even the government isn't stupid enough to leave open. I can't find any reference to the "three purple hearts" policy in anything I've ever read. I'll toss it out there; was that policy ever in force in Vietnam?

Posted by Mitch at August 24, 2004 06:24 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Three thousand-dollar injuries ? You are being too generous. How about three ten-dollar wounds?

Posted by: Pete Goddard at August 24, 2004 06:40 PM

Mitch -

One of the best books I've ever read is The Other Side of Time: A Combat Surgeon in World War II, by Brendan Phibbs. His writing is superb.

His unit was a mobile hospital attached to the mechanized infantry. Re the stress on the troops, he said that when Germany surrendered, the incidence of serious illnesses shot up. It was as if the men's bodies had held off the sickness until they could afford to be ill.

Posted by: Jack Okie at August 24, 2004 10:04 PM

***I'll toss it out there; was that policy ever in force in Vietnam?***

Unfortunately, yes. The Navy's policy was outlined in BUPERS Instruction 1300.39 (though it is impossible to find the instruction online).

I wrote about that (and some other misconceptions) here: http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/000796.html

Posted by: Joe Carter at August 24, 2004 11:04 PM

Joe,

Thanks. Good to know.

Strange to see, but good to know...

Posted by: mitch at August 25, 2004 05:15 AM
hi