When Monroe Seigle, a Cobb County Marine Corps veteran, received the Purple Heart last Wednesday for his service in Iraq, he was hoping the medal would open up a new chapter in his life.
He became one of the first Georgians to receive the medal retroactively after recent changes emphasized the seriousness of concussions.
But the past is often hard to shake. According to documents released Monday through the Open Records Act, Seigle has had several brushes with the law since the mid-1990s — from a spate of domestic violence and stalking charges to a charge last year of armed robbery.
Police say that in August, Seigle and three others forcibly entered a Kennesaw apartment and “used a firearm and removed approximately 15 kilos of cocaine, or $320,000 in U.S. currency.” He was arrested Oct. 27 and charged with armed robbery, burglary and weapons possession.
"They are not sure what was stolen or who it was stolen from," said Seigle's attorney, Charles Lea, and Seigle "is absolutely maintaining that he did not do this."
Seigle spent two weeks in jail until he was able to post a $40,000 bond, Lea said. He has not been indicted, and a court date has not been set.
“He is desperate that the world doesn’t confuse what he went through with anything subsequent that he has done,” Lea said. “He maintains his innocence, and this has the potential to detract from what so many folks have gone through. He does not want his situation to have a reflection on the validity of what so many veterans have endured.”
Seigle said, “I respect the Purple Heart and I want to protect the integrity of the Purple Heart.” He said he now wants to advocate for other veterans and help them get their Purple Hearts.
Seigle was injured on April 16, 2006, in Iraq when his Humvee hit a roadside bomb. He was initially denied a Purple Heart because he never lost consciousness and didn’t bleed.
The Department of Defense added language to its Purple Heart criteria in 2011 to clearly define concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries.
Douglas J. Middleton, senior vice commander of the Georgia Military Order of the Purple Heart, said he did not know about Seigle's arrests until a reporter told him the day after the ceremony.
“I didn’t know about it and I don’t know if it matters,” Middleton said. “It doesn’t affect the Purple Heart part. That happened in Iraq.”
Middleton said Seigle called him Tuesday night and asked him to participate in his ceremony Wednesday morning at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta.
“My part was to just add some support from the Order to the ceremony,” said Middleton, a Vietnam veteran. “No, it doesn’t impact the fact that he earned the Purple Heart. You can talk about the honorable aspects later on, but that is a different story.”
Seigle, who is on full disability and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, acknowledged his arrests, but didn’t want to go into detail.
Seigle, who was discharged from the Marines on May 30, 2009, exactly three years before he received his Purple Heart, has been arrested at least three times since he returned home, and police have answered numerous domestic-violence calls at his home.
A student at Kennesaw State University, he was arrested for fighting on the campus in 2009. He was also arrested in 2009 on domestic violence and stalking-related charges.
Lea said Seigle was acquitted on nine counts of stalking in November 2010 and all of the charges were dismissed.
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