State’s medal-holders meeting here this weekend

While hundreds of Mississippi’s Purple Heart-decorated war veterans plan to gather in Vicksburg this weekend for a yearly convention, a River City native stationed in Iraq is expected to bring home the world’s oldest military medal used today.

David Allen Pugh, a 25-year-old sergeant and squad leader with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, is expecting to receive any day the final approval to receive the Purple Heart.

The honor is awarded to members of U.S. forces wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy, or given posthumously to the next of kin for those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in war.

A letter of recommendation says Pugh suffered injuries to his neck and back from shrapnel in an attack on March 1.

“It’s one of those things where it’s hard to know how to react,” said Pugh, whose wife, Ashlie, and 2-year-old son, Gavin, live in Vicksburg. “I’d definitely be proud to receive the award, but at the same time you wish it never happened.

“I’m just happy that I’m going to be awarded the Purple Heart versus my family being awarded a folded American Flag.”

The military decoration was created as the Badge of Military Merit by Gen. George Washington. After about 150 years, on Feb. 22, 1932, the U.S. War Department in Washington, D.C., revived the decoration as the Purple Heart.

To be pinned with the honor, Pugh must receive approval of the Purple Heart recommendation on three levels