Soldiers happy to be alive, receive Purple Hearts

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Gaelen Lowers | Brig. Gen. Mark Corson, commander of the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and Maryville, Mo., shakes the hand of Spc. Crystal Hodges, an aviation fueler with the 512th Quartermaster Company, 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd ESC, and native of Grand Rapids, Mich., after pinning on her Purple Heart award, Oct. 28, at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.  

JOINT BASE BALAD, IRAQ

10.28.2010

Courtesy Story

3rd Division Sustainment Brigade

By Sgt. Gaelen Lowers

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq— While en route to the 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Support Operations Center, April 29., Sgt. 1st Class Tony O’Neil, the 13th CSSB’s SPO non-commissioned officer in charge of the equipment readiness division, and Columbus, Miss. native, heard the alarm for incoming indirect fire.

While attempting to take cover in a concrete bunker, O’Neil was struck against the bunker walls by the force of an impacted mortar, resulting in mild traumatic brain injuries.

Almost two months after that incident, while providing fuel and armament to incoming helicopters at the Forward Armament and Refueling Point at Forward Operating Base Cobra, July 28, Spc. Crystal Hodges, an aviation fueler with the 512th Quartermaster Company, 13th CSSB, 3rd Sust. Bde., 103rd ESC, and native of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Sgt. Willie Bell, an aviation fueler for the 512th QM Co., and native of Swainsboro, Ga.; and Spc. Bobby McKisset, refueler for the 512th Quartermaster Company, and Washington, D.C. native, received shrapnel wounds from two explosive projectiles.

All four soldiers were honored, Oct. 28, with Purple Hearts, the military’s oldest award that is still given to members of the U.S. military, and three of them were awarded the Combat Action Badge, given to military members engaged by combat activity.

“I’m extremely honored by this award,” said McKisset, “but I am mainly happy to just be alive.”

The three other soldiers echoed McKisset’s statement by expressing their deep gratitude for the award and their second chance on life.

“I feel extremely blessed just for the fact that I am still here,” said O’Neil. “This award could have very easily been presented to my family at a memorial ceremony.”

The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States who are wounded by an instrument of war at the hands of the enemy. It is also awarded posthumously to the next-of-kin in the name of those who were killed in action or have died of wounds received in action.

Although thought to be an award, Brig. Gen. Mark Corson, commander of the 103rd ESC, and Maryville, Mo., native, the ceremony attendees know that one does not get awarded the Purple Heart, because it’s a circumstance of combat.

“These four individuals have sacrificed more than their time, will and effort,” he said. “They have, in fact, sacrificed their blood and their health for one of the two awards that no one wants to get; those two awards being the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge.”

Corson went on to say that although this is a day of celebration, the attendees could not forget that those four soldiers are lucky to be alive.

“These soldiers are fortunate,” he said. “The bad news is that you are getting a Purple Heart; the good news is that your families are not the ones getting the Purple Heart in your behalf. We are very thankful that these four soldiers were wounded only moderately and that they are here with us today.”

• Date Taken: 10.28.2010
• Date Posted: 11.08.2010 08:49
• Story ID: 59650
• Location: JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ