Posted Mar 16, 2011, 4:05 pm
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, still recovering from a shot through the brain, was informally awarded another Purple Heart on Wednesday.
Army veteran Al Lee said that Giffords deserves the honor.
"She was injured in the line of duty," he said.
"I wanted her to have it because of her strong support of veterans and her ability to always recognize a military servicemember such as myself," Lee said.
Lee, who was awarded the medal after being wounded in Fallujah, Iraq, in Sept. 2003, presented his Purple Heart challenge coin to Pam Simon, Giffords' community outreach director, on Wednesday.
The congresswoman's spokesman said he will give the coin to Giffords in Houston on Friday.
This is the second time a veteran has given a Purple Heart to Giffords. The afternoon of Jan. 8, the same day the congresswoman and 18 others (including Simon) were shot, an anonymous veteran left his medal at University Medical Center.
Giffords' staff has not learned who left his medal for Giffords.
Thanks to our donors and sponsors for their support of local independent reporting. Join Luke Knipe, Magdalena Barajas, and Performance Systems LLC and contribute today!
"We don't know who he is," her husband, Navy Capt. Mark Kelly said in January.
"We keep that Purple Heart in her room with her," he said.
The medal was pinned to Giffords' pillow while she was at UMC.
C.J. Karamargin, Giffords' spokesman, could not say Wednesday if the first medal made the journey to Houston with the congresswoman.
Lee, the commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Sierra Vista, now works as a civilian advisor to the U.S. Marines. He is moving to Okinawa, and his Purple Heart is already packed away, he said.
If he could have found it, Lee would have given medal to Giffords, instead of the challenge coin, he said.
"It's a great gesture on the part of a constituent," Karamargin said.
Lee said he appreciates that Giffords always remembers him, he said, noting that she has been a strong advocate for veterans and servicemembers on the House Armed Services Committee.
"She's been there for us," he said.
I feel that she was injured in combat. She was injured while serving, on duty," said Lee, who suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iraq.
"All I wanted to do was show her that one of her constituents was thinking about her," Lee said. "It was the least I could do."
"I will fly all the freaking way back here when she is able to say 'Thank you,'" Lee said. "I will be here for that."
The Purple Heart is awarded to service members who are wounded or killed. Most Purple Hearts awarded are from World War II-era stocks of the medal minted in anticipation of heavy casualties from a proposed invasion of Japan.
3 comments on this story
Sorry, Dylan. I guess I misread the story title “Another Purple Heart for Gabby.” And this line: “U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords…was informally awarded another Purple Heart on Wednesday.”
And this one: “This is the second time a veteran has given a Purple Heart to Giffords.”
Yes, you say that a coin was presented, but you don’t make clear to people who have no idea how the military works that the coin is in no way an official part of the Purple Heart. The Giffords shooting was a tragedy, but the truth is that she doesn’t deserve a true purple heart. She does deserve a purple heart coin, but that’s not what this story is saying. To the uninformed, they think that giving her a coin is giving her a purple heart.
Yes, I’m a Soldier who barely survived attacks that I lost friends in, so maybe I’m a little sensitive to this issue. Mrs. Giffords is NOT a Soldier. She’s a politician who was targeted by a completely deranged man. She’s no different than Phyllis Schneck. Who’s that? Exactly. She was the oldest person killed, yes KILLED, the day Giffords was shot.
I’m not going to go on because I don’t want anyone to think I’m dishonoring what happened to her. Let’s just say there’s a reason Purple Hearts are given to troops and not politicians.
CJ,
Thanks for your thoughts. I pretty clearly reported that Lee gave a challenge coin to Giffords, because he couldn’t find his (packed away) medal.
The veteran who left his Purple Heart with Giffords on Jan. 8 did leave his medal, not a challenge coin.
Incidentally, you don’t need to go to a BX/PX to purchase a challenge coin. They’re readily available on Amazon.com and other websites.
Giffords wasn’t presented with a Purple Heart. She was presented with a challenge coin. These aren’t given to Soldiers who earn the Purple Heart. They are purchased or given as gifts and can be purchased in any military exchange store.
Giffords was injured during the commission of a crime while Lee was injured in combat. While I appreciate Lee’s gesture, there is a difference. This article is very misleading! Politicians get paid three times as much as troops and have, at most, 1% of the risk.