US Army Witholds Purple Heart for Combat Soldiers with Traumatic Brain Injuries


some senior medical officials opposed giving out the Purple Heart for invisible injuries. He said one fellow medical officer — whom he did not identify — told him that he feared creating "another John Kerry" by giving out the Purple Heart for concussions.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, some political opponents mocked Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., the Democratic nominee, for receiving three Purple Hearts for shrapnel wounds he got during the Vietnam War, which critics deemed too minor to deserve recognition. In the last of these actions, Kerry also received a Bronze Star.