Assignment for the Tribune, purple hearts

I got an assignment for the Tribune this morning shooting a ceremony where soldiers were given their purple medal of honor. The time was off by thirty minutes and I missed the handing out of medals so I waited outside to see the soldiers who had recieved their medals.

This soldier, Specialist Badilla, was hugging his wife, and joking around with his family. He talked about his injury, a bomb exploded onto his face when he inspected a hole from his vehicle while patroling in Iraq. While many may disagree with the war and the agenda behind it, all the soldiers there are still people with wives, husbands, children, parents and I can’t begin to imagine what they have to deal with even when they are back at home.

Badilla’s mother admires his medal.