Posted on 07/26/2011 3:05:59 PM PDT by Libloather
Family seeks recognition for soldier slain in Ark.
By: JEANNIE NUSS | Associated Press
07/26/11 4:36 PM
Andy Long lies in a military cemetery in Arkansas, between a Persian Gulf veteran and a man who served in Korea.
While the tombstones around him say where the soldiers served, the granite slab marking the 23-year-old's grave doesn't list a military campaign — at least, not one the Army recognizes.
In the two years since Long was killed and another soldier was wounded outside a military recruiting station in Little Rock by a self-professed jihadist, their families have struggled to convince the military and the federal government that the two were victims of the global war on terror, not merely a random act of violence.
"My son was killed in this war," Janet Long said after she left roses and baby's-breath at her son's grave. "It wasn't a motorcycle accident and it wasn't a convenience-store drive-by shooting."
Long's parents are fighting for formal recognition, namely Purple Hearts, for their son and his wounded comrade, Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula. Before the murder trial of Abdulhakim Muhammad ended abruptly Monday with a plea deal, they sent a hefty report to the Secretary of the Army's office and The Associated Press, detailing why the soldiers deserve the honor.
They say they are not only seeking acknowledgment of the soldiers' sacrifices but worry that without any formal recognition of being wounded in the line of duty, Ezeagwula — who still has shrapnel in his body from the shooting — may have to fight for ongoing health care.
Their goal seems nearly impossible.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Barack Hussein Obama wants to deny the historical record that domestic Islamic terrorist attacks happened on his watch as he was declaring the War on Terror to be OVER (mission accomplished or mission abandoned...).
Plus all those soldiers who died at Ft. Hood. They died in the “war” on terrorism.
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