Purple Heart Ornaments Sent to Dead Marines

The Marine Corps has apologized for accidentally sending Purple Heart Christmas ornaments to 1,150 dead Marines and sailors. The thank-you packages, which also contained a letter to the Marine and information on a physical reconditioning program, were intended for living Purple Heart recipients, Stars and Stripes reports. The Marines learned of the error when families began phoning in on Monday.

"There are no words to express how very sorry we are for the hurt such a mistake has caused the families of our fallen warriors," the commanding officer of the Wounded Warrior Regiment said. "There is no excuse for why this happened." (More US military stories.)