At Newburgh, New York, at his Headquarters, on this date in 1782 General George Washington established the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Sgtleo

Thank you for bringing up the topic of the MOPH.

I have been preparing my soap box MOPH presentation for several months and I need help.

I think the total number of MOPH awarded to the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor who were POWs of the Japanese, is right at two. Not even a hand full, only 2 have been able to "prove it."

*War Department General, Orders 3, 1932,
*Executive Order 11016, 25 April 1962,
*Executive Order 12464, 23 February 1984,
*Public Law 98-525, 19 October 1984,
*AR 600-8-22 / 25 February 1995, and
*Public Law 104-106, February 10, 1996, all say that almost all POWs held by the Japanese are eligible for the Purple Heart.

IF I am wrong somewhere, please point it out to me, with corrections. Any advice I can pass on to the remaining veterans and their descendants would be greatly appreciated.

This is one of those things that grates and gnaws on me just like Japan's refusal to acknowledge and to apologize to the former POWs while there is still one alive who would accept the apology.

The Death March, the HellShips, the Japanese corporate lust that caused them to approached the Japanese military to give them the POWs for slave labor will be a future fable provable by these facts:
1) Japan never acknowledged any wrong doing
2) never apologized,
3) never taught its people about the war
4) American schools teach about the war in Europe and America's two atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
5) the US government behaved in US District Court the same way it did in the war. The US Government (clearly at odds with the law) told the Court that the exPOWs could not sue Japan or its companies.
5)Why, even the MOPH shows that they did not even meet the minimum standard for the PH when only two could qualify for it.

WHy? From what purpose? To what end, spend nearly 70 years of the joint efforts of two once waring nations to deny both justice and mercy to this group of people?

"We’re the Battling *******s of Bataan.
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam.
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces,
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces.
And nobody gives a damn!”

PS the site oftware did the editing out of the ******* word.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rainbowtrout,

Sue
I stand at your side on that soapbox.

Shockey