Clearing the Fog of War

Purple hearts awarded to three

When a powerful roadside bomb blew Spc. Marcus Carr's armored vehicle into the air as if it were a toy, people had reason to wonder if he'd survive the blast, let alone walk again.

He suffered a concussion, a traumatic brain injury, two broken legs, a lost spleen and a badly damaged pancreas, but that wasn't all.

There was a fractured pelvis, other broken bones, a severed nerve in his wrist and a ruptured artery behind his jaw that caused a stroke.

On Monday, he stood with two other soldiers as Gen. Lloyd Austin III, the Army's vice chief of staff, pinned the Purple Heart on them. While it was a big deal that the service's No. 2 commander would honor them, Carr, 28, of Roy, Utah, conceded he'd have been happy to receive the medal in his room at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort San Houston, where he has spent the past 18 months.

“The best fortune I could possibly have is being here,” Carr said. “How the heck I did survive they have no idea, but I'm still here, I'm still alive, I'm still kicking.”

Soft-spoken, he calls himself humble. Close calls often have that effect on people, and Carr is far from done with his ordeal. Rods now do the work of bones crushed in the July 16, 2011, blast. Parts of his body were blown away. TBI has complicated once-simple tasks like remembering the names of old friends.

A thin black metal wristband ensures he won't forget one buddy, Cpl. Raphael Rodrigues Arruda, who was killed in the explosion. A native of Brazil, he was 21.

“In the very beginning, I was pretty much trapped in my own mind,” Carr explained. “It was really hard to talk to people. ... So I pretty much would be giving like one-word answers to a few sentences here and there. Now that's gotten a lot better.”

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Conryn backs bill to give Fort Hood victims Purple Hearts

A Texas senator said Wednesday he backs a bill that would allow troops injured or killed in any terrorist attack on American soil to receive Purple Hearts — including those who fell in the Fort Hood shooting.

Sen. John Conryn said he backed the measure by fellow Republican Peter King, a New York congressman, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., to end the distinction between domestic and overseas terrorism in awarding the medal.

The Pentagon would be required to assess each case under the Fort Hood Victims and Families Benefits Protection Act. It would override an Army rule that gives Purple Hearts only to those injured or killed in combat with the enemy.

“Fort Hood has long been a source of pride for all Texans,” he said, “and as the community continues to heal, the heroes who put themselves in harm's way on that fateful day deserve to be recognized for their sacrifice whether overseas or at home.”

Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of killing 13 people and wounding another 32 in the Nov. 5 shooting spree inside a crowded post deployment center. His capital murder trial starts Aug. 20 at Fort Hood.

Eyewitnesses testifying in an evidentiary hearing said he cried out, “Allahu akbar!” or God is great, before shooting.

Some in Congress have argued that Hasan was a terrorist, and a number of soldiers on Fort Hood believe he was on jihad. Lieberman's committee said in a report the FBI knew enough “to have detected Hasan's radicalization to violent Islamist extremism,” but didn't act.

In initially co-sponsoring the bill in 2011 with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rep. Ron Carter, both R-Texas, Cornyn contended “the victims were attacked by someone who shares common cause with the very same terrorists our troops are fighting overseas.” He said the victims “deserve the very same benefits and honors for their service and sacrifice.”

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/Cornyn-backs-bill-to-give-Hood-victims-Purple-3546808.php#ixzz1ylXWgYrh

 

After 7 decades, a Purple Heart

The passage of 69 years has taken its toll on how Master Sgt. Charles Joyner is remembered by generations of his family. There are a few black-and-white pictures of the big, burly Army Air Corps mechanic who served his wife breakfast in bed. That's one anecdote, though far less is known of his death.

After sifting though government telegrams, details of his final days after surviving the Bataan Death March come into slightly sharper focus, but if many cherished memories have faded, Joyner grew larger than life Friday.

Surrounded by her family, his daughter Elaine Wachtendorf, 92, of San Antonio accepted a Purple Heart from Sen. John Cornyn for her long-lost father. It was as much a gift to her as a token of respect for his last sacrifice.

“I think it's wonderful,” she said after the ceremony, cradling a Purple Heart certificate signed by Army Secretary John McHugh.

“A long time in coming, but it's wonderful.”

“Mother's been mentioning it for several years, and so I thought it's so hard to make someone really, really happy when they're 92 years old and they don't have much to look forward to in life.”

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/After-7-decades-a-Purple-Heart-3378047.php#ixzz1ykzhw3GG