Sky Soldiers PFC Justin Kalentis & SPC Jesse Murphree Receive Purple Hearts at WRAMC

On March 28, 2007 at a ceremony held at Walter Reed Army Medical Center two of the Wounded Heroes from the 17r3rd ABCT were presented Purple Hearts.  Army Pfc. Justin Kalenits, 24, of Geneva, Ohio 2-503, Chosen Company was one of those Soldiers.  I have met Pfc Kalentis.  He is a firey young man with a great spirit and an infectious smile. 

View from the Ranch House, Aranus, Waygal Valley Afghanistan

Justin was wounded at the battle at the Ranch House near Aranus, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on August 22, 2007.  I wrote about another of the 25 Sky Soldiers, Sgt Kyle Dirkintis who was in that battle.  He, too, was wounded and was awarded the Bronze Star with V Device for his actions that day.  On the morning of August 22, 2007 the Sky Soldiers were attacked from all sides by a company size insurgent force.  The battle raged on for an estimated three hours.  Air support was called in to strafe the areas from which the insurgents were attacking.  When the Battle at the Ranch House was over 11 of the 25 Sky Soldiers had sustained wounds but none, thankfully, had been killed. 

I have never met Sgt Jesse Murphree but have heard and read many stories about him.  Jesse was so severely wounded in an IED attack on December 28,2007 that both of his legs were amputated.  In this story you will read that Jesse, an avid snowboarded prior to joining the Army, still has many of the same goals in life with respect to his love of skiing.  He's just altering the methods and his pathways to realize his dreams of competitive skiing.  What an inspiration!

You can read more about these great Warriors here, here and here.  I don't think I have to tell anyone who has been reading this blog how much it angers me (because so many Americans either don't care or are completely ignorant) to read Sgt Murphee's words from "Afghanistan: It's a Battle" by John Rutherford":

Every day we were getting shot at," he said in an interview after receiving his Purple Heart on Friday. "And you hear about other people in Iraq, they got shot at a couple of times. We're like, we've been shot at every day.

"You start thinking you're fighting a forgotten war, like no one's paying attention. I went home on R&R before I got hurt and people were coming up to me, they're like, at least you're not in Iraq and stuff, and I was looking at them, and I was like, what? And they'd say, you don't do, they called it battle, they're like, you don't do battle anymore? And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, yeah, I do," Spc.  Murphree said.

NONE of our Brave Warriors must ever feel forgotten.  NONE OF THEM!  No, Sgt. Murphree, you and all of the Soldiers, Marines, Airman and Sailors in Afghanistan are NOT and will NOT be forgotten.  We think of you, appreciate you and support you EVERY day.