Nevada National Guard looks into why Purple Hearts denied

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 | 11:01 a.m.

Officials with the Nevada National Guard are investigating why nine local Guardsmen were denied Purple Heart medals after being injured while stationed in Iraq in 2003.

Nevada National Guard spokeswoman, 1st Lt. April Conway, said that the denial of the medals for the members of the Henderson-based 72nd Military Police who were wounded in two seperate incidents involving explosive devices is puzzling.

"We thought that maybe (the paperwork for the medals) got lost in the shuffle, but then we were told they were denied," Conway said.

The 72nd is working to collect medical data from those who were wounded to resubmit for the medals, and the Guard's inspector general office in Reno is investigating, Conway said.

Every state has an active duty inspector general assigned to its Guard units to investigate any problems, Conway said.

The 72nd put in for the Purple Hearts in connection with two attacks that wounded soldiers during the tour of duty from May to November 2003.

The first attack occurred on June 27, 2003, when a 2 1/2-ton truck carrying eight soldiers overturned after a roadside bomb exploded near it. One of the soldiers was sent home after the attack and did receive a Purple Heart, while the seven others riding in the truck were denied the medal.

The second attack occurred on Aug. 19, 2003, when a Humvee with two Nevada Guardsmen inside hit an explosive device. The two guardsmen, who were wounded in the attack, also did not receive Purple Heart medals.

About 115 soldiers with the 72nd were sent to Iraq in 2003, and were called upon to guard Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. The unit was eventually relieved at the prison by the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police.

The 72nd was replaced by the 372nd before the prisoner abuse allegations at the prison were revealed, and several soldiers with the 372nd have been convicted in connection with the scandal.

The members of the 72nd have said that they did not encounter any prisoner abuse while stationed at the prison, and that they treated prisoners humanely.

The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces of the who are wounded by "an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy" and it is awarded posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action, according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a national organization of Purple Heart recipients.