Membership
Membership
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Eligibility requirements to become a Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart
All persons of good moral character who are awarded the Purple Heart Medal by the Government of the United States AND are not dishonorably discharged are eligible for active membership in the Military Order of the Purple Heart of the U.S.A.
Simply complete and submit an application form, provide documentation to us of the award of the Purple Heart Medal, and remit your dues to our office. Please note that the MOPH does not have posthumous membership.
Download an application to join the Purple Heart
Print it out, fill it out, and bring it to a meeting along with a DD214 and proof of award.
Are you a lineal relative of a Purple Heart Medal Recipient? If so, you qualify for Associate Membership in the Military Order of the Purple Heart Work side by side with Purple Heart recipients to continue the legacy of these brave men and women who gave so much to this country.
Criteria For a Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is currently awarded pursuant to Executive Order 11016, 25 April 1962, Executive Order 12464, 23 February 1984 and Public Law 98-525, 19 October 1984.A.The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, has been wounded or killed, or who has died or may hereafter die after being wounded as follows:
In any action against an enemy of the United States.
In any action with an opposing armed force of a foreign country in which the Armed Forces of the United States are or have been engaged.
While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
As a result of an act of any such enemy of opposing armed forces.
As the result of an act of any hostile foreign force
After 28 March 1973, as a result of an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack by the Secretary of the Army, or jointly by the Secretaries of the separate armed services concerned if persons from more than one service are wounded in the attack.
After 28 March 1973, as a result of military operations while serving outside the territory of the United States as part of a peacekeeping force.
B. While clearly an individual decoration, the Purple Heart differs from all other decorations in that an individual is not “recommended” for the decoration; rather he or she is entitled to it upon meeting specific criteria.
A Purple Heart is authorized for the first wound suffered under conditions indicated above, but for each subsequent award an Oak Leaf Cluster will be awarded to be worn on the medal or ribbon. Not more than one award will be made for more than one wound or injury received at the same instant or from the same missile, force, explosion, or agent.
A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under one or more of the conditions listed above. A physical lesion is not required, however, the wound for which the award is made must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.
When contemplating an award of this decoration, the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury. The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.
Examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart are as follows:
(a) Injury caused by enemy bullet, shrapnel, or other projectile created by enemy action.
(b) Injury caused by enemy placed mine or trap.
(c) Injury caused by enemy released chemical, biological, or nuclear agent.
(d) Injury caused by vehicle or aircraft accident resulting from enemy fire.
(e) Concussion injuries caused as a result of enemy generated explosions.
Examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not qualify for award of the Purple Heart are as follows:
(a) Frostbite or trench foot injuries.
(b) Heat stroke.
(c) Food poisoning not caused by enemy agents.
(d) Chemical, biological, or nuclear agents not released by the enemy.
(e) Battle fatigue.
(f) Disease not directly caused by enemy agents.
(g) Accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action.
(h) Self-inflicted wounds, except when in the heat of battle, and not involving gross negligence.
(i) Post-traumatic stress disorders.
(j) Jump injuries not caused by enemy action.
It is not intended that such a strict interpretation of the requirement for the wound or injury to be caused by direct result of hostile action be taken that it would preclude the award being made to deserving personnel. Commanders must also take into consideration the circumstances surrounding an injury, even if it appears to meet the criteria. Note the following examples:
(a) In a case such as an individual injured while making a parachute landing from an aircraft that had been brought down by enemy fire; or, an individual injured as a result of a vehicle accident caused by enemy fire, the decision will be made in favor of the individual and the award will be made.
(b) Individuals wounded or killed as a result of “friendly fire” in the “heat of battle” will be awarded the Purple Heart as long as the “friendly” projectile or agent was released with the full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment.
(c) Individuals injured as a result of their own negligence; for example, driving or walking through an unauthorized area known to have been mined or placed off limits or searching for or picking up unexploded munitions as war souvenirs, will not be awarded the Purple Heart as they clearly were not injured as a result of enemy action, but rather by their own negligence.
C. A Purple Heart will be issued to the next of kin of each person entitled to a posthumous award. Issue will be made automatically by the Commanding General, PERSCOM, upon receiving a report of death indicating entitlement.
D. Upon written application to Commander, ARPERCEN, ATTN: DARP-VSE-A, 9700 Page Boulevard. St. Louis, MO 63132-5200, award may be made to any member of the Army, who during World War I, was awarded a Meritorious Service Citation Certificate signed by the Commander in Chief, American Expeditionary Forces, or who was authorized to wear wound chevrons. Posthumous awards to personnel who were killed or died of wounds after 5 April 1917 will be made to the appropriate next of kin upon application to the Commanding General, PERSCOM.
E. Any member of the Army who was awarded the Purple Heart for meritorious achievement or service, as opposed to wounds received in action, between 7 December 1941 and 22 September 1943, may apply for award of an appropriate decoration instead of the Purple Heart.
F. For those who became Prisoners of War after 25 April 1962, the Purple Heart will be awarded to individuals wounded while prisoners of foreign forces, upon submission by the individual to the Department of the U.S. Army of an affidavit that is supported by a statement from a witness, if this is possible. Documentation and inquiries should be directed to Commander, PERSCOM, ATTN: TAPC-PDA, Alexandria, VA 22332-0471.
G. Any member of the U.S. Army who believes that he or she is eligible for the Purple Heart, but through unusual circumstances no award was made, may submit an application through military channels, to Commander, PERSCOM, ATTN: TAPC PDA, Alexandria, VA 22332-0471. Application will include complete documentation, to include evidence of medical treatment, pertaining to the wound.
H. As noted above, the Purple Heart may be awarded to civilian nationals of the United States. These individuals must be serving under competent authority with the Army when wounded. Serving under competent authority with the Army will include those eligible persons who are employees of the U.S. Government in a duty (pay or official travel) status when wounds are sustained. Examples of eligible individuals are as follows:
Any Army employee who is traveling outside of the continental limits of the United States on PCS or temporary duty (TDY) aboard a commercial aircraft and wounded by international terrorists in an attempted or actual hijacking incident.
An Army employee in an Army office building performing his or her job who is wounded by an explosive device detonated by international terrorists.
A civil or foreign service employee from a U.S. Government Agency or Department attached to an Army element performing intelligence, counter-terrorist, or other duties with the Army wounded by international terrorists.
An Army employee wounded in an international terrorist incident in which a soldier or soldiers are also wounded.
References:
Executive Order 11016, 25 April 1963
Executive Order 12464, 23 February 1984
Public Law 98-525, 19 October 1984
MOPH Chapter 711 Greater Las Vegas NV
This page will contain links to information that will help veterans and their families. Whether you are from one era or another, there should be links here that can guide you to some of the facts that can aid you in your day to day business or problems. Should you visit here, a not see some information that you know about that you think could help others, please email me at [email protected] I will add anything that could help veterans or their families with whatever they could use.
A Guide for Veterans Looking to Start Their First Business
Opportunity to Support Fellow Veterans
https://www.lungcancercenter.com
https://www.asbestos.net/mesothelioma/
Veterans and Addiction: A Guide for 2019.
https://www.mesotheliomahub.com/Veterans/
treatment/co-occurring-disorders/suicide/
Drugs/who-addiction-affects/Veterans
Addiction Center post-traumatic-stress-disorder
Addiction alcohol
Mesothelioma + Asbestos Awareness Center
AVVA Nevada State Council Site
Veterans Administration Site (Veterans’ Benefits)
Nevada Office of Veterans Affairs
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund – Maintaining the Wall
Arlington Cemetery, Official Site
Find and Write to Your Congress (House and Senate)
National Alliance of POW/MIA Families
Understanding-a-veteran-with-ptsd
alcohol-and-sleep/
addiction-and-sleep/
non-drug-therapies/
support/smoking-among-veterans/
Comprehensive Guide to Sleep Apnea
Links
MOPH
Veterans and Addiction drugrehab.com/addiction/veterans Posted November 2, 2017 at 12:11 PM |
Alcohol Addiction and Alcoholism drugrehab.com/addiction/alcohol Posted November 2, 2017 at 12:12 PM |
UPDATE ON DESERT STORM MEMORIAL FROM SCOTT STUMP https://www.stripes.com/news/advocates-fight-for-desert-storm-memorial-site-near-national-mall-1.493369 Posted October 25, 2017 at 4:14 PM |
85th National Convention of the Military Order https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzrQQeHKg2v3R0JKemhwOHNFTjg/view?usp=sharing 85th National Convention of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Dallas, Texas, Elects Patriot NEIL VAN ESS as National Commander The 85th Annual Convention of The Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) and the 84th National Convention of the MOPH Auxiliary concluded Friday, August 18, in Dallas, TX, with the election of new officers for the upcoming year. Patriot Neil Van Ess, a combat wounded veteran from Totowa, New Jersey was elected as National Commander. Elected as National Senior Vice Commander was Doug Middleton, a combat wounded veteran from Roswell, Georgia. Elected as National Junior Vice Commander was Felix Garcia, a combat wounded veteran from Sugar Land, Texas. Elected as President of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Auxiliary was Gloria Sanchez of Tallahassee, Florida. Diane Petrini of California was elected as Senior Vice President, and Cheryl Perez of Chula Vista, California was elected as Junior Vice President. The election of NEIL VAN ESS, a former law enforcement officer and police Captain in New Jersey, with extensive Union negotiation responsibilities, brings a new depth of experience to the position of National Commander of the Order. After being sworn in to his new position, Patriot Van Ess said, “I am deeply honored to serve as National Commander of our Nation’s bravest combat heroes, those Purple Heart recipients who have shed their blood to defend the freedoms that all Americans are blessed to enjoy. Anyone who knows me knows that my passion is working on behalf of veterans. I truly look forward to working together – not only with the leadership team, but each and every Member of the Order, as we honor the present, remember the past, and preserve our legacy as we work to make this the most productive year in the history of the Order.” The newly elected Senior Vice Commander DOUG MIDDLETON, a retired military veteran with more than 30 years of dedicated service to the Nation, brings extensive leadership experience and qualities gained from a highly successful military career. After retiring from the U.S. Army, Middleton served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlanta Region of the American Red Cross. Speaking to the Members, he said “I am deeply honored and humbled by your trust. I believe that my experiences, which spanned both the Vietnam and the Gulf wars, give me a unique insight into the hopes and aspirations of all generations of our Order’s Members to serve our Veterans and their families. My goal is to mentor our newest members and help develop the necessary skills for leadership of our Order’s future. In the past year, I have grown to admire and respect our new Commander and look forward to assisting him in advancing the goals and objectives of the Order.” Also noteworthy was the election of Patriot FELIX GARCIA as National Junior Vice Commander, making him the first post 9/11 combat wounded veteran to assume this National leadership position. Speaking to the Convention, Garcia said “I am honored to be entrusted with the mission of carrying on the traditions and legacy of this great Order by my generation, and just as important, to honor the generations of combat wounded veterans that came before us. I thank the Members for their confidence in my abilities to lead this venerated organization, and I do not take this duty and its responsibilities lightly.” Region Commanders: (* = indicates newly elected) Region I – Zach Fike (VT)* Region II – Rick Cherone (WI)* Region III – Barry Gasdek (WY)* Region IV – Lee Brown (FL)* Region V – Francisco “Paco” Elizalde (CO)* Region VI – Billy Weldon (AZ) Patriot Pete Rosie from Woodcrest, Texas was named the “MOPH Patriot of the Year.” Born in Edenborough, Scotland in 1941, he immigrated to the United States in 1959, and that same year he joined the U.S. Army. In 1972, while on his second tour in Vietnam, Staff Sergeant Rosie was wounded when his APC hit an anti-tank mine. He retired in 1980 as a Sergeant First Class with 21 years of military service. After retiring from the Army, he went to work for the family of BK Johnson, heir to the famous King Ranch, where he served as Executive Assistant to Mr. Johnson. After retiring from this position in 1995, Patriot Rosie joined the MOPH, and served many years as his Chapter’s Welfare and VAVS Officer, before becoming the Department of Texas Welfare Officer for six years. Patriot Rosie lives with his wife, Trish, in Windcrest, Texas, a suburb of San Antonio. He and Trish have six sons, three granddaughters and three grandsons. Trish has always been a very active and dedicated member of the MOPH Auxiliary. This year, thirty-two applicants received education scholarships, while SSgt Jacob Anderson was selected for special recognition as this year’s recipient of the Navy Seal Lt. Michael Murphy Scholarship. Lt. Michael P. Murphy was the leader of a U.S. Navy SEAL Team who was killed in action on June 28, 2005, during a covert counter-terrorism combat operation in Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Anderson has served in the U.S. Marine Corps since 2008. He received his Purple Heart for wounds received in Afghanistan. He is currently enrolled at the Citadel where he is majoring in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace Science. Upon graduation in 2019, he plans to pursue a career as a Marine pilot. For more information contact: John Bircher, MOPH Public Relations Director [email protected]. L to R: National Commander Neil Van Ess, National Senior Vice Commander Doug Middleton and National Junior Vice Commander Felix Garcia |
www.purpleheartfoundation.org/
VETERANS
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VETERANS BENEFITS www.benefits.va.gov/benefits/ |
Op-Ed Get ready for the next round in the battle over the Vietnam War www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-reston-vietnam-refought-20170903-story.html Op-Ed Get ready for the next round in the battle over the Vietnam War Machine gun at the ready, a paratrooper of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Brigade advances cautiously near Hue, South Vietnam, on April 3, 1968. (Associated Press) James Reston Jr. There are two Vietnam wars, and the second is still going 40 years after the first ended. The United States fought the first one from 1959 to 1975 in the jungles, villages and airspace of Indochina. The second is the war over how that war, the first lost war in Americaâ??s national history, is remembered. This month, as Ken Burnsâ?? 10-part Vietnam documentary is aired on PBS, the second conflict is sure to heat up again with renewed intensity. The positions will be fiercely argued. What was the war good for? Absolutely nothing, as the 1970 song put it? Or was it a heroic cause? The most important â?? and poignant â?? group who will offer answers to these questions is Vietnam veterans themselves. They see themselves reflected, against the roll of the dead, on the black granite walls of Maya Linâ??s Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, or in the faces of Frederick Hartâ??s evocative sculpture of three soldiers nearby. Many who served came home and got on with their lives, whatever the wounds and scars of war. A more visible subset of aging warriors sits astride motorcycles in Veterans Day parades or stands in the median strips of our streets holding cardboard placards. They live their lives as war survivors. They ponder what might have been. Those who served in Vietnam or resisted may never be considered members of a Greatest Generation, like World War II veterans. Often, no matter how their lives have unfolded, Vietnam vets have a chip on their shoulder. They ask or wish that their patriotism, their service, be better recognized, even glorified: They stepped forward, regardless of the flawed rationale and conduct of the war, when hordes of other young men, especially the so-called best and brightest, avoided the unpleasantness altogether. For those who avoided the draft and the danger, there is often a quiet guilt â?? I have witnessed it many times. They dodge the inevitable question: How did you manage to get out of it? Hasty marriage? Graduate school? A trick knee? Men in this category do not invite conversation about that time in their lives, any more than combat veterans discuss the horrendous things they witnessed in the war zone. Only those who came of age after the draft turned into a lottery, the ones with high, untouchable numbers, or those who arrived after the Army went voluntary, escaped the moral dilemma of serving or resisting or malingering. The statistics are revealing. Of the 26.8 million men who were eligible for service during the war period, 15.4 million were deferred, exempted or disqualified. Of those who served, 2.1 million were deployed to Vietnam. More than 58,000 died, 300,000 were wounded and 245,000 have filed for injuries incurred by exposure to the defoliant weapon Agent Orange. More than 50,000 draft-age men fled to Canada and Sweden. There are no statistics on those who suffer from permanent psychological wounds. The men who actively protested against the war may feel best about themselves. They were engaged in the struggle of their generation, and they deserve the lionâ??s share of credit for stopping the war. Their resistance, especially from 1967 to 1969, when U.S. casualties were the highest, forced the hand of Americaâ??s leaders. They have a better argument for serenity in their old age than those who merely avoided service and stood smugly on the sidelines. Then there are the politicians. The rationale for American involvement â?? the phony Tonkin Gulf resolution and the discredited domino theory â?? forced the moral dilemma on the Vietnam generation. Five years after Saigon fell, in the election of 1980, presidential candidate Ronald Reagan romanticized the conflict as a â??noble cause.â?? He planted the enduring notion, so popular on political hustings nowadays, that America must never again fight a war it does not intend to win. This glib rhetoric is sure to be prominent in renewed debates over the war, and it may make those who bear the brunt of the warâ??s loss feel better: It wasnâ??t their fault. But scoffing detractors will ask whether more troops and more bombs would really have ensured victory. They will turn Reaganâ??s phrase upside down: America must never again force another generation to choose between service or resistance in an arguably immoral war. It is with bitter irony that the Vietnam generation has witnessed the friendly visits of Presidents Clinton and Bush (both of whom avoided the war) to Hanoi, or the jovial Oval Office interchange between President Trump(deferred because of bone spurs) and Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the prime minister of our new ally and bulwark against China, the Peopleâ??s Republic of Vietnam. They must cope with the recent revelations that Richard Nixon scuttled a Lyndon Johnson peace deal during the 1968 election for cold political reasons, a deal that might have saved the 20,000 American soldiers who died during Nixonâ??s subsequent six-year presidency. With mixed feelings or quiet applause, they watched John Kerry, a bonafide war hero and an antiwar leader, in his last act as secretary of State, meet the Viet Cong veteran who tried to kill him in the murky waters of the Mekong Delta. Reconciliation after divisive wars, especially a lost war, is a tricky business. Those who served in Vietnam or resisted may never be considered members of a Greatest Generation, like World War II veterans. Nevertheless, their experiences are authentically American, deeply revealing of divisions and ideals that haunt us still. In the early 1980s, the design for the now-celebrated Vietnam memorial wall â?? a site that has evolved into a place of contemplation for the pacifist as well as the warrior â?? attracted advocates and enemies who saw it as yet another opportunity to re-fight the war. An editorial in the Boston Globe summarized what would become a five-year art battle this way: â??Commemorating the war in Vietnam is likely to prove no simpler than fighting it.â?? The Burns documentary airs in a week. Get ready for another round. James Reston Jr. will be interviewed about his latest book, â??A Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam Memorial,â?? at Chevalierâ??s Books on Sept. 28. Reston served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1968, and is a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. |