Fort Hood shooting victims receive Purple Hearts in ceremony

FORT HOOD, Texas, April 10 (UPI) -- The survivors and family members of those killed in an attack on Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, received Purple Hearts on Friday after a six-year battle to become eligible to receive the medal.

Up until this year, the Department of Defense had not considered the mass shooting by former Army Major Nidal Hasan to be an incident of international terrorism and so its victims weren't eligible for Purple Hearts. The massacre was initially classified workplace violence.

In February, Congress approved a change in the National Defense Authorization Act that allows an attack to be considered to be carried out by a "foreign terrorist organization" if the attacker had been communicating with the group or had been inspired by it.

The massacre resulted in the deaths of 13 people and injuries to 32 others.

Among the victims were two civilians who, because they're not eligible for the Purple Heart, were given Defense of Freedom Medals.

"It is priceless. It is a medal that shows we have given, blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice for this uniform," Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, one of the recipients, told KXAN-TV in Austin.