Veteran Asks USO to Stop Using Purple Heart in Fundraising

An Army veteran said the USO's use of the Purple Heart image in its fundraising campaign creates a misleading impression about the award given to service members wounded in combat.

The USO's fundraising materials sent in April included personalized return address labels featuring an image of the Purple Heart next to the veteran's name and address.

"It makes it appear that I have a Purple Heart medal. I do not have one," wrote Robert W. Tucker Jr., a disabled veteran who served in the Army for 12 years and left as a staff sergeant in 1994, in a complaint to the USO.