[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 17048]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL PURPLE HEART RECOGNITION DAY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am in support of S. Con. Res. 112 which 
supports the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day. 
This award was created by General George Washington, who established 
the Honorary Badge of Distinction in the figure of a heart in purple 
cloth or silk on August 7, 1782. Since that time, more than 1,535,000 
Americans have received Purple Hearts, and their numbers are growing 
daily as the war in Iraq continues to take its toll.
  Over 5,000 Americans have been wounded in Iraq, many of them 
suffering horrific injuries. One such American is SP Gabe Garriga, one 
of my constituents. Specialist Garriga volunteered for the Illinois 
National Guard right after September 11, when he was just 17 years old, 
because he felt obligated to go and make a difference.
  In the summer of 2003, his unit was deployed to Iraq. On July 14, 
2003, Specialist Garriga was rushing to help defend a checkpoint in 
Baghdad. The checkpoint had been breached by an Iraqi car that sped 
through without stopping, and U.S. soldiers feared that this was yet 
another suicide bomber. In the rush to defend the checkpoint, Garriga's 
Humvee slammed into another Humvee and he was thrown from his gun 
turret directly into burning fuel canisters.
  The wounds this young man suffered were absolutely horrendous. He had 
second and third degree burns over almost half his body and severe 
abdominal injuries. Doctors gave him a 1 percent chance for survival, 
but he beat those daunting odds.
  Specialist Garriga deserves everything this Nation can give him in 
return for his service and sacrifice and that includes a Purple Heart.
  This award was reinstated in 1932, a century and a half after General 
Washington created his Badge of Military Merit. At that time, Army 
regulations defined the conditions for the award as ``a wound which 
necessitates treatment by a medical officer and which is received in 
action with an enemy.''
  There is no doubt that Specialist Garriga's wound necessitated 
medical treatment--27 operations are blunt testimony to that terrible 
fact. And there is no doubt in my mind that Gabe was involved in action 
with an enemy when he and his comrades were rushing to defend that 
breached checkpoint in a time of war. Nonetheless, over a year later, 
he has still not received a Purple Heart.
  Current Army regulations reiterate the conditions spelled out in 1932 
and add ``It is not intended that such a strict interpretation of the 
requirement for the wound or injury to be caused by direct result of 
hostile action be taken that it would preclude the award being made to 
deserving personnel.''
  Seeking to prevent a suicide bombing against U.S. troops or officials 
or against innocent Iraqi civilians is the act of a soldier engaged in 
the fight against terrorism. President Reagan, in fact, explicitly 
expanded the terms of the award to include those wounded or killed as 
the result ``of an international terrorist attack.''
  So, this year, as the anniversary of the creation of this 
commendation approaches and as we vote to recognize this day, I also 
urge the Army to award Specialist Garriga the Purple Heart as a symbol 
of our recognition of his sacrifice in the war in Iraq. He has earned 
it.

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