Fort Hood victims to receive Purple Hearts this week

[nitpicker]

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/238216-fort-hood-victims-to-receive-purple-hearts-this-week

Fort Hood victims to receive Purple Hearts this week
By Martin Matishak - 04/08/15 01:45 PM EDT

More than 40 victims of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting will be honored with the Purple Heart and its civilian equivalent Friday.

In all, 44 people will receive the Purple Heart or the Defense Medal of Freedom in a ceremony hosted at the military base, Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) said in a statement Wednesday. The event “will be a solemn reminder that members of our armed services make the ultimate sacrifice at home just as they do abroad. It will memorialize the civilians who gave more than was asked of them,” he said.

The Defense Department classified the shooting, in which Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others, as workplace violence, rather than an act of terrorism. He was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.

Hasan had been in contact with al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, and victims have argued that they should be eligible for extra combat benefits and recognition.
(snip)

Army Secretary John McHugh announced in February the service would award the medals, calling the gesture "an appropriate recognition of their service and sacrifice.”

[Nitram]

1. I thought since the GOP demeaned John Kerry's medals

they didn't believe in their value anymore.