10 soldiers receive Purple Heart for 2024 drone attack at Tower 22

The Military has awarded 10 New York Military Nationwide Guard troopers the Purple Coronary heart for accidents they sustained in a January 2024 drone assault whereas they have been assigned to a U.S. army base in Jordan.

The troopers have been wounded throughout a Jan. 28, 2024 drone assault on Tower 22 that resulted within the deaths of three Military reservists, Military Occasions beforehand reported. At the least 40 troops have been injured in whole.

The ten troopers, who’re assigned to the a hundred and first Expeditionary Sign Battalion, obtained their medals on Might 10 from unit commander Lt. Col. Darren Ketchum.

“This ornament will not be sought, and it’s not given frivolously,” Ketchum stated. “It’s earned by way of braveness within the face of hazard. As we speak, we acknowledge those that stood agency when confronted with the harshest realities of fight.”

The troopers honored in the course of the ceremony have been:

• Employees Sgt. David Barrientos, from Zebulon, North Carolina

• Sgt. Anthony Gist, from Floral Park, New York

• Sgt. Ryan Kissoon, from Richmond Hill, New York

• Sgt. Guillermo Renderos, from Yonkers, New York

• Sgt. Jarvis Ho So, from Brooklyn, New York

• Spc. Christian Tiburcio, from Manhattan, New York

• Spc. Matthew Crespo, from Brooklyn, New York

• Spc. Domingo Perez, from Brooklyn, New York

• Spc. Junior Clarke, from Brooklyn, New York

• Spc. Michael Department, from Brooklyn, New York

“I’m honored to have obtained the medal, but it surely’s by no means an award we needed to get,” Sgt. Ryan Kissoon stated. “It’s a tragic reduction we made it residence that day, and others didn’t.”

Kissoon added that the chaplain assigned to Tower 22, Maj. Chase Wilhelm, informed him one thing he would always remember about that day.

“‘We’re all from completely different components of the nation, however we’ll eternally be bonded by blood,’” he recalled Wilhelm saying.

When the assault unfolded, 14 troopers from the battalion’s Charlie Firm have been on the outpost to assist keep communications, in response to a launch asserting the Purple Coronary heart recipients.

The drone struck a piece of the bottom the place troopers lived. Troopers suffered concussions and different accidents because of the blast.

Platoon chief 1st Lt. Ian Gallagher stated the containerized housing unit “crinkled like a soda can” from the blast.

Troopers who weren’t severely injured labored to quickly restore communications from the outpost whereas fight lifesaver-trained troops within the unit used help kits to assist deal with different injured troopers. Different unhurt troopers donated blood.

Charlie Firm commander Capt. Paul Kramarz stated the troopers assigned to the Tower 22 base have been chosen particularly for the mission.

“These troopers from Charlie Firm, positioned at Tower 22, have been a hand-selected group,” Kramarz stated. “We knew they might function on the far reaches of our space of duty.”