![]() ![]() Many that receive this (Purple Heart) aren’t alive or have significant wounds and have had to leave the Marine Corps. So, to get singled out and shown this honor, it’s great, but it’s not something I earned alone. €œThis is something that is shared by many and made possible by everybody that was there. Not for yourself, but for everybody else, for the countless men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our nation and for the ones who will do so in the future.†“As you wear that award, wear it with pride. ![]() €œIt takes special men and women to do the kinds of things Marines do,†Ellison said in the press release. As a Major General, he commanded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent stability operations during the Iraq War. The two immediately started work on getting the Marine his medal, but needed an eyewitness in order to complete the proper forms, the release said.īy chance, Leishman’s old platoon commander also was stationed on Camp Courtney, assigned to III Marine Expeditionary Force, allowing the paperwork to be submitted and the Purple Heart to be awarded at long last. Kyle Ellison, Leishman’s commanding general, learned that the Marine was missing his Purple Heart. Leishman is now a commissioned officer stationed at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan, with the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.Īt some point during his tour in Japan, Brig. When he returned to his unit post-deployment the matter was not addressed and Leishman went more than 16 years without his Purple Heart. Unfortunately, because he had been so hastily assigned to the 11th MEU for the battle, the unit had never received his medical records. Ignoring his burning forearm, the Marine continued the fight for several hours before realizing he was shot.Īfter returning to his unit’s camp, he applied a dressing to stop the bleeding before reporting to medical. “When you’re shooting a machine gun, you have hot brass going everywhere, and sometimes you get hot brass down your blouse.†€œI didn’t know what it was right away,†Leishman said in the press release. The Marine was manning his M240 machine gun on top of his AAV when his right forearm was hit with an enemy bullet, the release said. 10, 2004, the Marine Corps’ birthday, Leishman was a staff sergeant working as an amphibious assault vehicle mechanic for the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, fighting inside Fallujah, Iraq, according to a press release. nearly 16 years earlier while fighting against insurgents to retake the city, according to the Marine Corps.Kevin Leishman wasn’t awarded his Purple Heart for the bullet he suffered until Wednesday †Operation Phantom Fury has taken a place in Marine Corps lore alongside the battle of Belleau Wood in France, Hue City in Vietnam and the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands, representing the heroism, commitment and valor of the Marine Corps.īut Capt. ![]()
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