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Fort Campbell holds Purple Heart Ceremony for Staff Sgt. Richard McLain and Sgt. Donnie Roach

Fort Campbell KY, 101st Airborne DivisionFort Campbell, KY – Staff Sgt. Richard McLain and Sgt. Donnie Roach were awarded the Purple Heart at a special ceremony conducted at McAuliffe Hall Tuesday.

Roach and McLain were surrounded by family and friends as they were each presented the award by 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Acting Senior Commander, Brig. Gen. Mark Stammer. Both men were overcome with emotion as they reflected back on their time in service and combat.

Staff Sgt. Richard McLain, (right) and Sgt. Donnie Roach take questions from the media following their Purple Heart Award Ceremony at Fort Campbell. Roach, a Vietnam Veteran, received his award more than 40 years after being wounded in the Vietnam War (Photo by Sgt. Joe Padula)
Staff Sgt. Richard McLain, (right) and Sgt. Donnie Roach take questions from the media following their Purple Heart Award Ceremony at Fort Campbell. Roach, a Vietnam Veteran, received his award more than 40 years after being wounded in the Vietnam War (Photo by Sgt. Joe Padula)

“It feels like closure,” said Roach, a field artillery Soldier who received the award more than 40 years ago for injuries he sustained in 1969 during the Vietnam War.

McLain, a Signal Support Systems Specialist assigned to the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), said he wanted people to remember that being deployed in a combat environment was about the Soldiers he served with, and that it was the noncommissioned officers job to take care of them.

“It’s the people around you that count,” he said. “No one died in my squad, because I would not allow it.”

Please use the following links to learn more about the Purple Heart:

www.purpleheart.org
www.thepurpleheart.com/history/

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