Advocacy in Action

After spending the last decade listening to the stories of Combat Veterans and their families, Jayna Moceri Brooks decided to pursue a PhD to advocate for Combat Veterans through research. See the "Research" tab above to learn more about her dissertation study in progress.

Military Health System Conference 2010 Presentation "Traumatic Brain Injury: Navigating the Health Care System" by Jayna Moceri Brooks, RN, MN & CPT Jonathan Brooks
http://www.google.com/search?q=Jayna+Moceri+Brooks&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

National Public Radio & ProPublica report on Purple Hearts and Traumatic Brain Injury: 
NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127402851
ProPublica: http://www.propublica.org/series/brain-wars
 
American Legion Resolution No. 45: Purple Hearts for Traumatic Brain Injuries:  http://www.legion.org/documents/resolutions/07n045.pdf. 

Congressman Bill Pascrell (Representative of the 8th district of New Jersey) & Congressman Todd Russell Platts (Representing the 19th District of Pennsylvania) letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates highlighting the inconsistancy in awarding Purple Heart medals to combat veterans with TBIs:  http://pascrell.house.gov/list/press/nj08_pascrell/pr182009.shtml

Current Policy Work: 
The Army changed the Purple Heart criteria in 2019 to no longer recognize post-deployment documentation of a TBI as adequate proof of injury. We are working to change this policy back because we understand that most Post-9/11 Combat Veterans who served in the earlier years of the conflicts did not receive documentation of their TBI while in theatre---or documents were lost or destroyed. Please let us know if you have been denied receipt of the Purple Heart for this reason via the "Contact Us" page.