What is a Purple Heart? Does it just mean that you were injured in combat?

Actually I believe that there are two medals that count. 1) the Purple Heart, a heart shaped purple medal, surrounded by gold and containing a profile of George Washington, which is a awarded to combatants who are wounded in the active service of their country. POWs are eligible for this award. It was reinstated in 1932. George Washington had awarded a cloth purple heart, to be worn on the left breast to the Continental Army members for courageous and valorous action. Along with the ribbon came the right to come and go as the officers did and was the only medal type award given out by the USA. It is said its creation was a reaction to the sight of both the British troops and French allies displays.of chest full of medals.


2) The Combat Infantry Badge ( C.I.B.) is a rectangular bar of blue framed in silver and surrounded by a silver laurel leaf. It contains a representation of a flintlock musket. It means that the wearer is not only competent with all the weapons used by an infantry but has spent ninety days in a place where he had to use them. You can get the Infantry Badge with out the C which means that you have qualified with the weapons on a range and left them there when you went home.


Thats why I say there is only those two medals. Both can only be earned the hard way. Being seen in the right place by the right person doen't enter into it. For every VC or Medal of Honour no matter how well earned there were at least ten others never reported. And no report can be exaggerated to support the claim. The Heart and the CIB are solid.

What is a Purple Heart? Does it just mean that you were injured in combat?
The Purple Heart is our nations oldest military award and has the actual profile of George Washington on it. It is awarded to servicemen and women for injuries sustained from the actions of the enemy. So for example if an individual driving a Humvee in a war zone crashes into a tree from falling asleep, they are not awarded a Purple Heart, however if that individual crashed into the same tree attempting to avoid enemy fire, they could be awarded one.
Reply:u get one if u got wounded...
Reply:You get one for an injury or death during combat action being caused by enemy forces and being treated by medical personnel. You do not get one for a scratch, a hangnail or a boil or any other stupid crap that has been previously mentioned. Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_hear... And the "just being injured in combat" comment lessens what the men and women who wear the uniform of our nation and get wounded or killed in action do for every one of us.
Reply:Yes, that's the gist of it. My former boss received one for being wounded in the calf during WWII. Had he been sleeping the opposite way, he would have probably died. He was in the bathroom when the General came by to award it to him, so when he went back to his bed, it was pinned to his pillow.
Reply:Yep.
Reply:Yes, but I would delete the word "JUST" from that answer. Although receiving any type of medal in the military has to do with how well your superiors write up the recommendation. I know some people probably did get it for minor injuries, but it is few. The purple heart is generally a very prestigious medal and I thank anyone who has earned it because it is for there heroism that I sleep peacefully at night.
Reply:yep and u do not want 1
Reply:my father has a purple heart awarded to him for saving lives during combat while he was wounded. I am so proud of him for that!
Reply:A purple heart means you have shed blood. It could be a small cut or totally blown to pieces. The questions about Kerry for example were unfair because the purple heart is not for valor, it is not a statement of a heroics, it is simply getting wounded and shedding blood. The soldier may have been fright by an attack and falls down badly breaking his arm and getting injured bad enough to draw blood. That is what it is. Its is a badge of courage in the sense that it shows a soldier has been in combat, but that is by inference.


Good Question, thanks.
Reply:Awarded following being wounded in action - i.e. signyfying your involvement in combat. The medics treating you deciding if the wound merits such an award. Some of the guys I seved with in Vietnam had 2 or 3.
Reply:Not necessarily, strictly. That was the idea but it means you were injured in the line of duty during time of war in a war zone.
Reply:You get a Purple Heart if you are injured or killed in combat or by hostile forces. You don't have to be in a war zone or even in a hostile enviornment. My dad worked with someone who got a Purple Heart when he was injured in a bombing in Turkey even though he wasn't in uniform and wasn't the target.
Reply:and yeh, "injury" could simply be a ingrown toenail... seriously they where getting them for this.
Reply:saving lives
Reply:Right it JUST means that you were injured in a combat zone, idiot!!! You're either twelve years old or a woman right? Maybe one of those who would never join the military?
Reply:Pretty much.
Reply:A Purple Heart is one where the blood doesn't carry enough oxygen to it.





(NB - Any Americans reading this - before you complain get hold of a dictionary [a big book with no pictures] %26amp; look up the word IRONY)
Reply:Yes, it means you were injured, while on active duty, during a time of war.