Texas Guardsman Gets Purple Heart
The Purple Heart goes to soldiers injured in combat. Photo courtesy the U.S. militaryAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
By Era Sundar
Gov. Rick Perry presented the Purple Heart, the medal given to soldiers injured in combat, to an Army National Guardsman from Galveston today.
Staff Sgt. Patrick Rogers is a medic with the Texas National Guard. He is recovering from his injuries. Capt. Adam Musil of the 36th Infantry Division said that Rogers is happy and thankful for the recognition but was only doing what any other soldier would have done.
Rogers received the medal for two incidents. The first one was in June. An attack partially destroyed his unit’s dining hall in Afghanistan. Rogers pulled himself from the rubble and helped other soldiers.
Days later, Musil said, Rogers was hanging from a mountain cliff. “He was able to provide aid to a soldier on the mountain who had received a gunshot wound to the head,” Musil said. “So he was rappelled down into enemy fire, rescued that soldier and was pulled back up.”
In addition to the Purple Heart, Rogers was awarded the Combat Medic Badge and the Air Medal. He will spend the next few days on leave with friends an family in Galveston, then go to Fort Hood for more treatment.
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