thedrifter
09-25-06, 08:03 PM
Article published Sep 24, 2006
Marines get Purple hearts
By Nate DeGraff
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- It was just a gut feeling, but Mathew Rogers knew his twin brother was in the truck that exploded down the road.
The two Marines were fighting in Iraq, and as Mathew battled his way to where Nathaniel Rogers was, he feared the worst.
"He's got to be dead," Mathew thought.
The blast knocked Nathaniel unconscious, but he wasn't dead. He suffered a concussion, cuts and bruises, and some hearing loss, and for those injuries he received a Purple Heart.
Mathew was on hand during Saturday's award ceremony at the armed forces reserve center along Interstate 40, as were other family members. The brothers grew up in Winston-Salem.
Also receiving the award was Jeremy Ackerson, of Oak Ridge, who escaped with a bruise to the head after a sniper's bullet pierced his helmet.
Caleb Kovach, of Waxhaw, got a Purple Heart, too. He was wounded twice -- on Christmas Eve and St. Patrick's Day.
The Purple Heart, awarded to those wounded or killed in combat during military service, has a decorated history of its own. George Washington came up with the idea of a purple badge of military merit in 1782, but the award eventually fell into disuse and wasn't revived until after World War I. A modern version of the award was introduced in 1932.
About 2 million Americans have received the award. It is said to be the oldest military decoration in the world still awarded today.
Kovach's Christmas Eve injury wasn't too bad -- he got some shrapnel in his hand. He was thankful that it wasn't more serious.
"It's Christmas!" he said, recalling his reaction. "We're alive!"
Then, on March 17, an explosion knocked him out of a truck. He suffered an ankle injury that still bothers him when he runs.
But his father, Mark, was just "so thankful that he's able to stand here. And that he's able to walk."
Ackerson, who took the bullet to the helmet, also suffered shrapnel wounds to his leg and arms. As his mother watched the ceremony, she was overwhelmed.
"Did I cry? Yeah," Miralee Ackerson said. "Does it take much? No."
She'll probably cry again in a few days. Jeremy is getting married next weekend.
Contact Nate DeGraff at 373-7024 or ndegraff@news-record.com
Ellie
Marines get Purple hearts
By Nate DeGraff
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- It was just a gut feeling, but Mathew Rogers knew his twin brother was in the truck that exploded down the road.
The two Marines were fighting in Iraq, and as Mathew battled his way to where Nathaniel Rogers was, he feared the worst.
"He's got to be dead," Mathew thought.
The blast knocked Nathaniel unconscious, but he wasn't dead. He suffered a concussion, cuts and bruises, and some hearing loss, and for those injuries he received a Purple Heart.
Mathew was on hand during Saturday's award ceremony at the armed forces reserve center along Interstate 40, as were other family members. The brothers grew up in Winston-Salem.
Also receiving the award was Jeremy Ackerson, of Oak Ridge, who escaped with a bruise to the head after a sniper's bullet pierced his helmet.
Caleb Kovach, of Waxhaw, got a Purple Heart, too. He was wounded twice -- on Christmas Eve and St. Patrick's Day.
The Purple Heart, awarded to those wounded or killed in combat during military service, has a decorated history of its own. George Washington came up with the idea of a purple badge of military merit in 1782, but the award eventually fell into disuse and wasn't revived until after World War I. A modern version of the award was introduced in 1932.
About 2 million Americans have received the award. It is said to be the oldest military decoration in the world still awarded today.
Kovach's Christmas Eve injury wasn't too bad -- he got some shrapnel in his hand. He was thankful that it wasn't more serious.
"It's Christmas!" he said, recalling his reaction. "We're alive!"
Then, on March 17, an explosion knocked him out of a truck. He suffered an ankle injury that still bothers him when he runs.
But his father, Mark, was just "so thankful that he's able to stand here. And that he's able to walk."
Ackerson, who took the bullet to the helmet, also suffered shrapnel wounds to his leg and arms. As his mother watched the ceremony, she was overwhelmed.
"Did I cry? Yeah," Miralee Ackerson said. "Does it take much? No."
She'll probably cry again in a few days. Jeremy is getting married next weekend.
Contact Nate DeGraff at 373-7024 or ndegraff@news-record.com
Ellie