The Purple Heart is one of the military's oldest medals -- and there are now almost two dozen new recipients right here in the east.
Members of Camp Lejeune’s Third Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment who were killed and injured during a recent deployment were honored Monday morning.
Philip Jones was at the ceremony and shares the stories of some of these Purple Heart heroes:
It's only been a couple of weeks since the more than 1,000 men and women of 3/8 returned home from serving seven grueling months in Afghanistan.
Their long deployment culminated Monday morning with a short ceremony as 21 Marines were awarded Purple Hearts.
Cpl. Kenneth Bowen still remembers the day his humvee hit an IED.
“It was a very bad day where I lost two of my friends,” he said. “And they were both awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.”
When the humvee hit the explosive, “the truck was instantly caught on fire. I was instantly on fire,” Bowen said. “I was lucky enough to get out of the vehicle and put myself out in a ditch right next to the road.”
He suffered severe burns and accepted his Purple Heart with a heavy heart -- still thinking of the friends he lost.
“It really just reminds me of them,” Bowen said. “And it's a great honor to receive the same award that they received.”
LCpl. Justin Companion earned his Purple Heart after a suicide bomber attacked a police station.
It's an honor he's happy to accept, but one he says no one seeks out.
“It brings back bad memories, but it's great to be honored,” Companion said. “Every day now I get startled by every little boom I hear. I have bad dreams some days. But I’m moving on.”
And he says accepting an honor like this one on behalf of his country and those who didn't make it home makes moving on a little easier for everyone.
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