WASHINGTON (7News) — Before a hushed crowd of nearly 100 Purple Heart recipients inside the East Room of the White House, President Trump honored those wounded or killed in battle on this National Purple Heart Day.
“Every purple heart tells a story of courage, sacrifice, and purpose,” said President Donald Trump.
President Trump added, “Those who wear this medal ran into bullets, faced ferocious bombs, and shed their blood on the field of battle. We will never forget what they did. We will always use them as an example of bravery, and courage, and strength.”
Amid this crowd of heroes dating back to the Korean War, two-time purple heart recipient 39-year-old Vanessa Schieber of Pennsylvania.
“Got out of vehicle and we were ambushed, and I was shot in my right rib cage,” said Schieber.
Despite being wounded in Iraq in 2008, this now-retired Army staff sergeant signed up again. Eight years later an IED ripped through her convoy in Afghanistan, flipping her vehicle, and in the process breaking nine vertebrae. It took more than a year for her to learn how to walk again.
Now, to be in this moment with fellow recipients fills her with pride along with an unbreakable feeling a friendship forged on the battlefield.
“It’s always amazing. You automatically bond with each other right away because you’ve been in the same situation, the same struggles, and you never met before but you leave five minutes later like best friends,” concluded Schieber.