Photo By Lt.j.g. Drew Verbis | Equipment Operator Second Class Keith Hauter from Litchfield, Illinois, and Baton...... read more read more
CAMP KRUTKE, Afghanistan –Two Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133, Task Force Anchor, were awarded the Purple Heart by Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus, commanding general 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Forward, during a ceremony, Jan. 6.
The recipients, Equipment Operator 2nd Class Keith Hauter from Litchfield, Ill., and Baton Rouge, La., native Dan Morgan, received the award for wounds sustained when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED). They're expected to make a full recovery and finish the deployment.
"Allow me to use these Seabees to talk to you," Gurganus said. "These guys have something that I don't have. These guys (Seabees) who drove over an IED, these Purple Heart recipients, are the brave example that we're succeeding."
"I want you to know how important you all are," Gurganus added. "I know that Seabees 'build and fight' because I've seen it. I've seen you hammering in full battle gear, put down the hammer, grab your rifle and join the fire fight for hours, then go right back to hammering. I've seen you do this for days on end. I couldn't do this job without Seabees. I need you and I'm letting you know we're winning, and you're a big part of that result."
Gurganus went on to explain the current condition of the draw down of American forces in the region. He said to stay on course and maintain focus.
"I felt like the major general gave us positive validation," said Builder 3rd Class Juan Moriealvelez. "We all sacrifice so much to be here and it's good to get a motivating message directly from the top of our chain of command."
Gurganus left these departing words, "I will only make one promise to you before you leave. I'll get you on that plane, but I promise I will work your tails every day while you're in this battle space because that's how important Seabees are to the mission."
Home ported in, Gulfport, Miss., NMCB 133 is deployed to Afghanistan as part of Joint Task Force Empire in the U.S. Central Command area of operations to assist coalition forces and provide engineering support to the Afghan government.
| Date Taken: | 01.06.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2013 10:05 |
| Story ID: | 101026 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 656 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Maj. Gen. Gurganus motivates Seabees during Purple Heart ceremony, by LTJG Drew Verbis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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