Yesterday my husband related a tale from Bill Mauldin, whom, as you know, created the Bill and Willie cartoons for Stars and Stripes. He got a tiny scratch from a grenade in WWII, and when the doctor bandaged him, handed him a Purple Heart. He objected that the scratch was nothing, he'd gotten worse from barbed wire on the farm back home, and the doctor told him, "it all adds up, maybe this will help get you out of here."
I know that those who served there probably feel differently about this, but personally I can't blame a man for wanting to go home, so collecting Purple Hearts for minor injuries makes sense, if that's what happened, but bragging about it later seems strange. (I am a devout coward, myself, not at all personally brave. I'd gladly serve behind lines but am too much of a wimp to be a hero.) |
