FARGO, N.D. — A former North Dakota National Guard soldier who deployed to Iraq with the 191st Military Police Company will be awarded a Purple Heart medal. Retired Spc. Russell “Rusty” Ouart, of Fargo, N.D., will receive the medal at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Fargo Armed Forces Reserve Center, 3920 31st St. N., Fargo.
Gov. Jack Dalrymple will attend the ceremony, and Brig. Gen. Alan Dohrmann, the North Dakota National Guard’s deputy adjutant general, will present the medal, which recognizes enemy-inflicted injuries.
The 191st Military Police Company mobilized in February 2008 and arrived in Iraq that April. The award certificate states that Ouart is receiving the medal “for wounds sustained in action, May 4, 2008, in Iraq.” Ouart joined the North Dakota National Guard in 2006 at age 42 after having previously served in the U.S. Navy. He received a medical retirement in January 2009 after serving his nation as a member of the military for more than three years.
The Purple Heart medal has a lengthy history, having begun as the Badge of Military Merit under the command of George Washington during the Revolutionary War in 1782. The Purple Heart as we know it began in 1932 and has undergone numerous changes and criteria in the decades since. Today, the medal remains a purple heart but it bears Washington’s profile. It is awarded to any member of the U.S. Armed Forces who, while serving in that capacity, has been wounded, killed or died from wounds in action.
WHO: Retired Spc. Rusty Ouart
WHAT: Purple Heart Ceremony
WHEN: 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4
WHERE: Fargo Armed Forces Reserve Center, 3920 31st St. N., Fargo, N.D.
MEDIA: No pre-coordination is needed.
| Date Taken: |
02.01.2012 |
| Date Posted: |
02.01.2012 08:09 |
| Story ID: |
83120 |
| Location: |
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, US |
| Web Views: |
76 |
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0 |
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