Community Corner

Good News: Windsor Soldier Receives Purple Heart

It's never good news when one of our young men or women is injured in combat, but it's certainly an honor to recognize their sacrifices in battle and comforting to know they're coming home.

Sacrifices made by Pfc, Steven Bergen, an infantryman with Company C, 1st Battalion, 38th infantry Regiment, Combined Task Force 4-2 (4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division), were recently recognized when the Windsor native received the Purple Heart.

Bergen received the medal for wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive devise (IED) in Afghanistan.

According to Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), Bergen was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

TBI is caused by a severe blow to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts normal function of the brain, DVIDS reports.

According to DVIDS, Bergen was injured with two fellow soldiers on the morning of May 11, 2013.

Twenty days following the IED attack, Bergen was presented the Purple Heart by United States Under Secretary of the Army, Dr. Joseph Westphal at Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar, Afghanistan.

The attack took place one month before Bergen was scheduled to return home.

"Guess you have multiple lives, multiple chances," he told DVIDS. "Because if (more explosives) had gone off, I'd have been dead probably."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here