From Stars and Stripes and Military.com:
Rep Wants Combat Status for Hood Victims
April 18, 2011
Stars and Stripes
by Leo Shane III
WASHINGTON –- For the third year in a row, Texas Rep. John Carter is pushing to get combat status recognition for victims of the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009. The shooting left 14 dead and 32 wounded, and has been dubbed a clear act of “radical Islamic terrorism” by Carter and other conservatives in the House.
If approved, the move would make the shooting victims eligible to receive the Purple Heart, as well as allow those troops and surviving family members to collect combat zone insurance payouts. Congress passed similar legislation following the Sept. 11 attacks to declare the Pentagon a combat zone, allowing those victims extra benefits.
Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee approved the move in their initial drafts of the annual defense budget bills last year, but the item was dropped from the final authorization bill amid a flurry of December legislative fights.
In a statement, Carter said that “those injured or killed in terrorist acts, whether in combat zones or on U.S. soil, have sacrificed their lives or health for this country and the very least we can do for their eternal sacrifice is ensure that they or their family will be taken care of and protected.”
The combat status distinction does not change the long-term military medical care options for the wounded, but could retroactively give them thousands of dollars in bonuses and money to cover expenses related to the attack. Carter said he would push to include the language in the fiscal 2012 Defense Authorization Bill, already under debate in the House.
The court-martial of the accused Fort Hood shooter, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is expected to take place later this month. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
©
This article is provided courtesy of Stars and Stripes, which got its start as a newspaper for Union troops during the Civil War, and has been published continuously since 1942 in Europe and 1945 in the Pacific. Stripes reporters have been in the field with American soldiers, sailors and airmen in World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, and are now on assignment in the Middle East.
Stars and Stripes has one of the widest distribution ranges of any newspaper in the world. Between the Pacific and European editions, Stars and Stripes services over 50 countries where there are bases, posts, service members, ships, or embassies.
Stars and Stripes Website
© 2011
Rep Wants Combat Status for Hood Victims
April 18, 2011
Stars and Stripes
by Leo Shane III
WASHINGTON –- For the third year in a row, Texas Rep. John Carter is pushing to get combat status recognition for victims of the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009. The shooting left 14 dead and 32 wounded, and has been dubbed a clear act of “radical Islamic terrorism” by Carter and other conservatives in the House.
If approved, the move would make the shooting victims eligible to receive the Purple Heart, as well as allow those troops and surviving family members to collect combat zone insurance payouts. Congress passed similar legislation following the Sept. 11 attacks to declare the Pentagon a combat zone, allowing those victims extra benefits.
Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee approved the move in their initial drafts of the annual defense budget bills last year, but the item was dropped from the final authorization bill amid a flurry of December legislative fights.
In a statement, Carter said that “those injured or killed in terrorist acts, whether in combat zones or on U.S. soil, have sacrificed their lives or health for this country and the very least we can do for their eternal sacrifice is ensure that they or their family will be taken care of and protected.”
The combat status distinction does not change the long-term military medical care options for the wounded, but could retroactively give them thousands of dollars in bonuses and money to cover expenses related to the attack. Carter said he would push to include the language in the fiscal 2012 Defense Authorization Bill, already under debate in the House.
The court-martial of the accused Fort Hood shooter, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is expected to take place later this month. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
©
This article is provided courtesy of Stars and Stripes, which got its start as a newspaper for Union troops during the Civil War, and has been published continuously since 1942 in Europe and 1945 in the Pacific. Stripes reporters have been in the field with American soldiers, sailors and airmen in World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, and are now on assignment in the Middle East.
Stars and Stripes has one of the widest distribution ranges of any newspaper in the world. Between the Pacific and European editions, Stars and Stripes services over 50 countries where there are bases, posts, service members, ships, or embassies.
Stars and Stripes Website
© 2011
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