(a) For purposes of the award of the Purple Heart, the Secretary concerned shall treat a member of the armed forces described in subsection (b) in the same manner as a member who is killed or wounded in action as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States.
(b) A member described in this subsection is a member who is killed or wounded in action by weapon fire while directly engaged in armed conflict, other than as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States, unless (in the case of a wound) the wound is the result of willful misconduct of the member.
(c) This section applies to members of the armed forces who are killed or wounded on or after December 7, 1941. In the case of a member killed or wounded as described in subsection (b) on or after December 7, 1941, and before November 30, 1993, the Secretary concerned shall award the Purple Heart under subsection (a) in each case which is known to the Secretary before such date or for which an application is made to the Secretary in such manner as the Secretary requires.
Structure US Code
Subtitle A— General Military Law
CHAPTER 57— DECORATIONS AND AWARDS
§ 1121. Legion of Merit: award
§ 1122. Medal for Merit: award
§ 1123. Right to wear badges of military societies
§ 1124. Cash awards for disclosures, suggestions, inventions, and scientific achievements
§ 1124a. Cyber operations-peculiar awards
§ 1125. Recognition for accomplishments: award of trophies
§ 1126. Gold star lapel button: eligibility and distribution
§ 1127. Precedence of the award of the Purple Heart
§ 1128. Prisoner-of-war medal: issue
§ 1129. Purple Heart: members killed or wounded in action by friendly fire
§ 1129a. Purple Heart: members killed or wounded in attacks by foreign terrorist organizations
§ 1131. Purple Heart: limitation to members of the armed forces
§ 1133. Bronze Star: limitation on persons eligible to receive
§ 1134a. Medal of honor: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll
§ 1135. Replacement of military decorations
§ 1136. Honorable service requirement for award of military decorations