Does a Veteran injured with a brain injury from a road side bomb deserve a Purple Heart?

Without a doubt!

Yes he should. but getting it awarded is another thing. I have tried to get a PH awarded since I was a Marine in Vietnam. 46 years ago, I was knocked unconscious by a Grenade, Next Morning I collapse with a Seizure for which I am still receiving Disablity from VA. I even had my Congressman look into it with no luck. I still have my tag that my Corpsman put on me when I was Medevac out of the Combat Zone.

hell yes he does get the medal with everything else pay/treatment/

Hell, yes. I would make a case that it's a worse injury than many for which the PH has in fact been awarded. It's a frakkin' brain injury and therefore has to be much worse than a minor wound from say a grenade fragment or the like on your forearm. In my very inexpert medical opinion.

Yes he should get one ,
My son was wounded the same way when his driver drove over a 2.5 Russian anti tank mine , the Marine Corps Denied him a Purple Heart, he had a class 2 and 3 concussion .
The next tour had a suiside bomber do the same again
Then in Afghanistan , he was knocked off his feet from the explosion of an RPG7. He rolled 100 feet down s hill , again concussion only this time his head , neck and shoulder were swollen , he was medi vac out of Helmand province. To an Army hospital , then when stable go the U.S. AirForce hospital in Germany

Absolutely. He was wounded in combat. the least his country owes him is a Purple Heard and decent post-service medical care.

That is not an easy question to answer, Mark. Since your request in stemming after the fact, I would imagine that you will need to pursue the Purple Heart through your Congressional Representative, who would in turn forward a request through the proper channels. In respect to you son-in-law deserving the reward, according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, "The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action. It is specifically a combat decoration" (purpleheart.org, 2015, para. 1). Therefore, since the VA already recognizes the TBI issue and has declared such as Service-Connected then one would expect that the request for the Purple Heart would be readily accepted. I have to assume that your son-in-law received no other physical injuries, which would have warranted immediate award of the Purple Heart. However, TBI is obviously a physical injury as well, although the determination of the existence of TBI may not be determined until years following the actual event. I wish you the best and encourage your son-in-law to press forward with the request for the Purple Heart. He definitely deserves it even if the surface scars are absent.

Kindest Regards,
Barry Goodson
CAP124 Vietnam 1968-1969
USMC

Indeed!

They should have already awarded him his purple heart. Unless, he did not identify himself as injured during the blast. Was the damage unnoticed at the blast scene?

SSG TBTILO 100/442 INF
Yeah he should get a PH. I know a few of my buddies who got IED beside their vehicle...... Definitely deserve it......Bulldog all the way whooo yahm