MOPH Department of Connecticut State Commander Daniel Eddinger was wounded while serving in Vietnam in January 1968. He went on to serve his country for over 26 years.
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U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Joseph Guchek was New Jersey's representative during the inaugural Purple Heart Patriot Project. Gucheck, says he is "forever thankful" for the chance to serve his country.
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Former U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Richard "Bud" Allen, a veteran of the Vietnam War was selected as Florida’s representative in the inaugural Purple Heart Patriot Mission. Allen, served his country for four years, including during April 1967 when he was wounded in Vietnam.
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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt Leonard Lazzara of North Carolina served on active duty between 1967 and 1969. Today, Lazzara remains active in the Purple Heart community through his service with the MOPH.
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Robert Cox served his country as a member of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
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Georgia's representative for during Purple Heart Patriot Project Mission #1, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Russell Morgan earned his Purple Heart during a fire fight in Da Nang. During his service, Morgan also earned the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the National Defense Medal.
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Illinois representative for Purple Heart Patriot Project Mission #1, U.S. Army Specialist Daniel Finn served on active duty for two years. Along with the Purple Heart, Finn earned the Combat Infantry Badge, the Sharpshooter Badge, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Army Good Conduct Medal.
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Purple Heart Patriot Project Mission #1's representative from Minnesota, Matthew Birr said service, to him, meant having a "sense of pride in himself." Birr was awarded the Purple Heart following injuries suffered in Afghanistan in August 2009.
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Jon "Wambi" Cook served in the U.S. Army for two years during the Vietnam War. Originally from Pittsburgh, Cook volunteered for the draft and went on to earn not only a Purple Heart, but also a Bronze Start with Valor, 4 Bronze Star Meritorious, an Army Commendation with one Oak Leaf, and a Presidential Unit Citation.
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Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Air Force Sergeant Dennis Fetter was wounded during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
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Gary Lewis represented Oklahoma during the inaugural Purple Heart Patriot Project. Lewis, a Specialist with the U.S. Army, was a member of the 4th Infantry Division between 1969 and 1971.
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United States Army Sergeant First Class (SFC) Bradford Bunnell served during Desert Storm, in Somolia, Bosnia and on two deployments during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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Mike Ali was born in 1948 in the Lower East Side of New York City. As a young child, his family moved to the Kingsbridge area of the Bronx, a “giant melting pot... with a very ethnically diverse community.” Growing up in the Marble Hill housing project with two thousand other neighborhood children was “a lot of fun. We were kids
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Marcus V. Arroyo was born on August 5, 1950 in the South Bronx of New York. His father was a sailor in the Merchant Marines, who sailed during World War II in the Atlantic, delivering desperately needed supplies through dangerous, submarine-infested waters to England. One of his father’s ships was blown up and he was
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There are seventy-nine living recipients of the Medal of Honor, bestowed by the President in the name of the Congress for acts of bravery above and beyond the call of duty. Paul William Bucha is one of them. “Medals of Honor,” he explains, “are not given for running up and down hills and charging bunkers. Ninety-nine percent of the
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Roberto Delgado was born June 14, 1948, in Puerto Rico. His grandmother’s side of the family was descended from the Arawak-speaking Taino peoples indigenous to the Caribbean Islands, while his grandfather was of Spanish descent, from the Canary Islands. During the 1950’s, his family moved to Brooklyn, New York searching for greater
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Jerry Donnellan is a true native New York hero. He was born on December 28th, 1946 in Nyack, New York to Irish-American parents. He is the youngest of five children, all of whom attended Albertus Magnus High School in Rockland County. He went on to go to Rockland Community College and then transferred to Texas A&M soon after
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“War is like nothing you will ever experience.” With these somber words U.S. Army veteran Richard Drago recalls his service in Vietnam during two tours of duty in 1969 and 1970. Nothing in his childhood growing up a city kid in Brooklyn prepared him for the grim reality of war. Born June 3, 1949, Richard lived with his family in a brownstone
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Warren Craig received his Purple Heart for injuries he suffered near Guadalcanal in late 1942. The United States had been in World War II for less than one year. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had destroyed most of the United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet. Most of our battleships and destroyers were in the Atlantic supporting
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The year 2006 was a horrific time for those living in Iraq. The war had been raging for three years. The American soldiers stationed in Iraq were there for a noble cause, to ensure and protect the freedoms and ideals of Iraqi citizens. As the new year dawned in January of 2006, more than 2,000 American soldiers had lost their lives
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