The Purple Heart was introduced in 1782 by General George Washington as a military badge of merit. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the Purple Heart to be presented to all military services. U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Jeffrey A. Sabins, training chief for Headquarters and Support Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, talks about his story, and sheds some light on the meaning of the Purple Heart.
Transcript
July 17th, 2006, I was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines as an 0331 machine gunner. So, during a patrol, we were heading down 20th Street, and the first truck struck an IED, which immediately disabled it, and the driver received injuries from that blast. So our truck, truck three, we were designated to go around the first truck and cover front security for them while they rendered aide to the driver. As soon as we went around that vehicle and got in position, we immediately started taking fire from all directions. So, the commander was handing me a handset to hang onto from the radio as he talked on the other one. All the dismounts were out of the vehicle, kind of directing fire, trying to get an assay what was going on at that time during the firefight. As I reached down to grab it from his hand, a sniper had fired his weapon. A 762 by 54 rim cartridge is what they said it was. It hit me right here in the front of Kevlar, went through the Kevlar, traveled along the inside of the Kevlar, and blew out the back. The impact itself rendered me unconscious immediately. There was some brain swelling. I got evacked out of there for a few days to monitor that. A few days later, I returned back to Ramadi and was able to finish off the deployment with the unit. Question about, you know, how did receiving the Purple Heart change my outlook on the Marine Corps? And the simple answer is not at all. The Marine Corps is a war-fighting institution with the best people around that’s part of it. Receiving a Purple Heart or being wounded in action or fighting for a cause, like none of that changes my outlook on the Marine Corps. I knew from day one what the Marine Corps was. That hasn’t changed to this day. I don’t want to settle with just being a Marine 24/7. I want to be more than that. I want to do as much as I can while being a great Marine. The Purple Heart itself doesn’t change my outlook of the Marine Corps. 15 year later, that hasn’t changed. At Marine Forces Command, I see it every day. Marines are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done and doing it right. A Purple Heart doesn’t define who a person is. It’s just a part of who they are.