According to Stars and Stripes, at least 80 award packages were submitted for review following the attack. The 29 medals were approved by Army Lt. Gen. Pat White, commanding general of Operation Inherent Resolve.
About 110 U.S. service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the attack.
According to The Associated Press, Iran fired a total of 15 ballistic missiles on Jan. 8 at U.S. military and coalition forces, 10 of which struck the Ain al-Asad Air Base in Iraq's western Anbar province, four of which missed their targets and one of which struck a base in Irbil in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region.
Iranian officials later confirmed that the Jan. 8 strikes were in retaliation for a targeted drone strike five days prior that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, has become a bigger concern for the military in recent years as more and more troops in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began suffering from head injuries from bombings and other explosions.
Medical science has improved its understanding of its causes and effects on brain function. It can involve varying degrees of impairment of thinking, memory, vision, hearing and other functions. The severity and duration of the injury can vary widely.
According to Urban, the first six Purple Hearts were given to soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait. The other soldiers are currently in the United States and will get their awards in the coming days. He said 80 service members were considered for the awards, and each recommendation package submitted by unit leaders was evaluated by a review board based on Army and Air Force regulations.
Urban said that a TBI diagnosis doesn’t automatically qualify a service member for a Purple Heart.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
About the Author