Executive Order 13758-Amending Executive Order 11016 to Update Eligibility Criteria for Award of the Purple Heart
Issued 2017-01-12 by Barack Obama
Plain-English Overview
AI-generated summary explaining what this action does, who it affects, and why it matters
This executive order updates the eligibility rules for awarding the Purple Heart, a military decoration given to service members who are wounded or killed. The order amends a 1962 executive order to clarify and expand when members of the armed forces can receive this honor. It covers situations ranging from traditional combat with opposing armed forces to service with friendly foreign forces, being held as a prisoner of war, and being targeted in terrorist attacks or peacekeeping operations.
The updated criteria include several specific circumstances. Members can receive the Purple Heart if wounded or killed in various scenarios, including international terrorist attacks after March 1973, peacekeeping operations outside U.S. territory after that same date, and attacks motivated by foreign terrorist organizations after September 2001 where the service member was specifically targeted due to their military service. The order also addresses injuries from friendly weapon fire during armed conflict after December 1941, as long as the injury didn't result from enemy action.
The order specifies that the Purple Heart is not authorized if a wound or death results from the service member's own willful misconduct. It also clarifies that injuries must be severe enough to require treatment. The Secretaries of the military departments or the Secretary of Homeland Security (for the Coast Guard) are authorized to award the Purple Heart in the President's name to qualifying service members or former members.
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Official Summary
Administration of Barack Obama, 2017 Executive Order 13758—Amending Executive Order 11016 to Update Eligibility Criteria for Award of the Purple Heart January 12, 2017 By the authority vested in me as President and as Commander in Chief of the armed forces by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, Executive Order 11016 of April 25, 1962, as amended, is further amended as follows: Section 1 . Paragraph 1 is amended to read as follows: "1. The Secretary of a military department, or the Secretary of Homeland Security with regard to the Coast Guard when not operating as a service in the Navy, shall, in the name of the President of the United States, award the Purple Heart, with suitable ribbons and appurtenances, to any member or former member of the armed forces under the jurisdiction of that department who, while serving as a member of the armed forces, has been, or may hereafter be, wounded: (a) in any action against an enemy of the United States; (b) in any action with an opposing armed force of a foreign country in which the armed forces of the United States are or have been engaged; (c) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the Uni