A Slain Soldier's Dad Fights for Son's Honor

Daris Long wants to know why his son, Army Pvt. Andrew Long, didn’t rate a Purple Heart after he was shot and killed outside his recruiting station in 2009 by a self-proclaimed radicalized Islamist.

Now several lawmakers are also questioning the Army’s decision not to approve a posthumous medal for Long after his father testified at a Wednesday joint hearing before the Senate and House Homeland Security committees.

“It took me two years to get these back,” said Long, holding up his son’s dog tags. “He wore these when he took four rounds of 7.62mm ammo from about three feet.”

Long described how the Army’s warrior ethos is inscribed on one of the identification tags. “The last line is, ‘I will never leave a fallen comrade,’” he said. “Well, the Army left him.”

The hearing marked the first time the House Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs met jointly to hear testimony on what military and congressional officials described as the growing threat posed by violent, homegrown terrorists to American troops inside the U.S.

Lawmakers also discussed the Nov. 5, 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, in which Army Maj. Nidal Hasan has been accused of killing 13 fellow Soldiers. Hasan is preparing to stand trial in March for what many are calling a terrorist attack.

Pvt. Long and Army Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula were shot in June 2009 outside their recruiting station in Little Rock, Ark. Long died shortly after, but Ezeagwula survived.

Their assailant, Carlos Leon Bledsoe, is serving life in prison after pleading guilty. Bledsoe’s father, who was present at the Dec. 7 hearing, testified at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in March that Carlos grew up a Baptist in Memphis but converted to Islam and became radicalized. He changed his name to Abdul Hakim Muhammad and travelled to Yemen in 2007.

The shooting was ruled a crime but not a terrorist attack, making both Soldiers ineligible for the Purple Heart, Army officials concluded.

Lawmakers at the hearing took issue with this.

“The perpetrator has admitted that it was a terrorist act, that he intentionally did this, that he sought out these two recruiters, that he was trying to kill Americans in uniform,” said Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor. “He’s not hiding it. He freely admits this to anyone who will listen, so I am having trouble understanding why the Army does not consider this a terrorist attack.”

Jim Stuteville, an Army senior advisor for counterintelligence operations and a liaison to the FBI, said service officials had made up their minds.

“Sir, the secretary of the Army had all that information when he made his decision; however it is still not deemed as sufficient enough information to indicate this was a terrorist act,” he said. But — “I will take your concerns back to the Army leadership at the conclusion of this hearing.”

Minnesota Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack also expressed his frustration with the Army’s decision.

“I just don’t get it,” he said. Cravaack told Long: “I can tell you, sir, I will not leave your son behind. … I am very disappointed in the secretary of the Army for not recognizing your son, and I will continue forth in that mission.”

Long, a retired Marine, grew up in Afghanistan and lived there for a decade. While he said he respects the rights of Muslims, he’s convinced that “Abdul hakim Muhammad, formerly Carlos Bledsoe, was unquestionably a radicalized violent Islamist extremist determined to wage jihad,” Long said.

“My family has kept silent for over two years; we will not be silent again. We are speaking not out of hate but because our country needs to hear the truth.”