long story short, i actually took a round in the boot,
rpg shrapnel in my hand, and that grenade round. BUT. here is why no purple heart. the round in the boot didnt touch my skin so i told my medic to get lost, i had better things to worry about.
rpg shrapnel only left a 1/2 scar on my left hand and i pulled the metal out. again, didnt care and told my medic to get lost. Doc Lee was my medic sense day one with my platoon so we were really close, he knew i didnt want anyone to know about what happened. we had 47 purple hearts out of 142 people. thats a shitty percentage of people getting hit. i watched my buddy loose his legs, and carried him to the truck,
HE deserves a purple heart. my team leader took a
RPG round that melted most of his skin and cut his face up good,
HE deserved a purple heart. a couple scratches doesnt earn me shit in my eyes. after watching all my friends get hit felt like i didnt earn anything. and i still dont feel i earned shit, all my awards dont mean anything to me from what i watched everyone else do. i was never told i was put in for medals, my team leader just did it. and as to answer the final question. the AGS-17 round landed on a rock 2 feet from me, the blast 'V,d' out and knocked me out, i had no idea what happened, i wasnt bleeding or anything, just knocked out for a good while, when i came to i kneeled and shot the guy that had hit me with that round who was still shooting at my buddies. I actually have all this on my helmet camera to, a good investment if you ask me. doc lee (my medic) was no where near me and could not get to me, my team leader and squad leader said i was fine with just a concussion. BUT, as little did i know the adrenaline fucked my mind up and i couldnt feel what really happened. my t5 and t6 spine where shifted and the muscles got all sort of messed up. sooooo, after we got back to base i was like,
wtf? this shit hurts, was med-evaced out, looked at and they thought nothing of it, so for the next little while i was given tordol (or however you spell it) shots in my ass cheek to numb the pain so i could go on patrol. we needed the numbers because we had so many WIA. fucking sucked dealing with it at the time, and it messed me up 100 times more, but was totally worth it to be next to my friends and help them out. 2-4 fire fights a day and 1 in 4 of your friends getting shot, you dont leave there side.
so that was actually longer then i thought it was going to be. but you know how it goes IP. i just dont feel like i earned jack shit. and i still dont. so what if i walk with a cane and wear a knee brace, my buddy doesnt have legs, and more dont have skin, cant move there arms, lost parts of limbs. whats a scratch earn me? nothing. save the honors for someone that actually earned it.
almost forgot, PLDC ribbon, never went to WLC, only had class's in germany once in a blue moon, couldnt go if i wanted to because i couldnt wear my IBA or anything like that, P3 profile, yeah, i was that guy. haha.
