MARINE FINALLY GETS PURPLE HEART AWARD FOR RAMADI AMBUSH
A prestigious award from the President, the Purple Heart is a badge of honor to those military men and women who receive it. After nearly 20 years, Francisco Roman is receiving his Purple Heart. You may be wondering, well what is the Purple Heart award? Below, we're breaking it down and diving deeper into the courageous acts that secured him the honor.Read Next: The Tommy Gun Is a Complicated, Important Part of American History
The Purple Heart Meaning and Honoring One's Sacrifice
The Purple Heart award is America's oldest medal. The award is from the United States military and is in the president's name. This award is given to Soldiers that were wounded or killed while serving the United States.The Purple Heart began during George Washington's time. However, it was the Badge of Merit. Men who perform a heroic act during their time serving receive the award. The Badge of Merit was a cloth Purple Heart with the word “merit” on it. This is how the Purple Heart award came about, many years later.No one knows exactly how many Soldiers were awarded the Badge of Merit, considering the book with the records has been lost for almost 200 years. We do know that 1.07 million Purple Hearts were given during World War II alone.Many Purple Hearts were awarded to people of all walks of life including the first woman to earn the award, Beatrice Mary MacDonald, a chief nurse in World War I. A German aircraft bombed her hospital causing her to lose her right eye. She continued to serve the rest of the war in Belgium and France. Beatrice earned her Purple Heart award in 1936.
Francisco's Time In Ramadi Iraq, 2005
The streets turned quiet in 2005 when Francisco Roman was leading a group of Marines through Ramadi. When talking about the event Roman said, “We were patrolling back to our base, and I noticed that the streets were empty. A mosque started playing the call to prayer. I looked back and told my squad mate that it felt like we were in a movie and the next thing I saw was a bright orange flash.”This was not Roman's first battle, he's also a Veteran from the First Battle of Fallujah just a year prior in 2004. He took cover and instantly thought of the group of Marines he was leading. His vision was blurry and he described a “tingling” feeling taking over his body. After checking on his team, they informed him of his injuries.Related read: The Battle of Blair Mountain Pitted WV Miners Against the U.S. Military
The Ramadi Iraq Battle Secured Roman's Purple Heart Award
Roman talked about why it took so long to get the award. One of these reasons began when he didn't feel that he had enough injuries to leave the battlefield. He also did not want to leave his guys behind. Not to mention, his chief was killed in battle and no push was ever made for him to receive the award.After becoming a police officer and being wounded in the line of duty, Roman's wife and battle mates finally convinced him to apply for the Purple Heart award. Roman's battalion commander is now the commandant of the Marine Corps. He was happy to approve the citation and present the medal to Francisco Roman in January of 2024.Suggested Read: DoD Is Now Covering Same-Sex Troops IVF Treatment Cost