BEND, OR -- Bend resident Chris Dahlen was presented with his Purple Hear medal by Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR) on Thursday, 4 1/2 years after he was injured in combat in Afghanistan.
Specialist Dahlen was wounded September 10, 2011 when his vehicle was struck by an IED - an Improvised Explosive Device. The Purple Heart is presented to soldiers injured or killed in combat. At the ceremony at Walden's office, Dahlen downplayed his injury.
“When I got wounded 78 others got wounded and we look at it as we did our job. That’s why I guess look at it like we don’t want to have things get real big or out of hand, we just look at it like we were doing our job.”
This was the first time the Congressman presented the Purple Heart to a solider. “So, for me, it’s very moving because he suffered a lot. It’s a unique and special privilege to be able to present the Purple Heart.” It took so long to get Dahlen his medal because his name was misspelled on the original paperwork.
