CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A mortarman with the Battle Skills Training School, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, received the Purple Heart Medal here Oct. 8 for wounds received in action while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Sgt. Julian Bejarano Jr., then a vehicle commander and joint fires observer with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd MLG, was on a resupply convoy in Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 5, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
“There’s no doubt about it, [receiving the Purple Heart] is probably the greatest thing you can do in service to your country,” Col. Gary F. Keim, the commanding officer of CLR-27, told Bejarano. “That is an incredible weight for you to carry the rest of your life because you’re maintaining a standard in the epitome of what it is to be a Marine.”
Bejarano served four years in the Marine Corps before leaving active duty in January 2005. He re-enlisted in 2007 and has served a total of two tours in Iraq, two tours in Afghanistan, and has received two awards for combat valor and two Combat Action Ribbons.
Although it is a great personal honor, Bejarano said receiving the Purple Heart does not change anything in his life, but it will serve as a reminder to live up to the expectations and responsibilities taken on by earning the title “Marine”.