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Congressional efforts to secure Purple Hearts for Fort Hood shooting victims have met with failure. Pentagon officials sent a position paper to congressional staffers Friday detailing the military's opposition.
Thirteen people were killed and 32 others were wounded in the 2009 massacre at the Army post. The attack has not been labeled a terrorist act despite evidence that the alleged shooter, Nidal Hasan, communicated with an American-born al-Qaida cleric and was motivated by Hasan's belief that America was at war with Islam.
U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, whose district includes Fort Hood, introduced legislation in February that would award combat status to military and civilian victims. That came after an ABC News investigation featured several victims who said they had been neglected by the system.