Two soldiers to get Purple Hearts

Jace Radke

Thursday, March 3, 2005 | 9:49 a.m.

Two Las Vegas soldiers will be awarded Purple Hearts this weekend, but seven of their comrades who were also injured in Iraq in 2003 are still being denied the honor.

Sgt. Henry Lujan, 35, and Spc. Willard Hubler, 23, both with the Nevada Army National Guard's 72nd Military Police Company have been approved for the medals for suffering injuries when the truck they were riding in in Iraq overturned after hitting a roadside bomb on June 27, 2003.

The soldiers are scheduled to receive the award on Sunday during training exercises at the Indian Springs Auxiliary Airfield, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The five other soldiers injured on the same day, and two soldiers injured on Aug. 19, 2003, when their Humvee hit a roadside bomb, are all gathering more medical evidence and will reapply for the award, Nevada National Guard spokeswoman 1st Lt. April Conway said.

Five of the seven soldiers were denied the medal, while no action was taken on the other two soldiers' request because of a lack of information, Conway said.

"The five that were denied were denied because of a lack of medical documentation," Conway said.

That could mean that the soldiers were treated and released for their injuries and there wasn't enough documentation done, or it could mean that their injuries were not severe enough to merit the medals and thus were not noted in medical paperwork, Conway said.

The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded at the hands of the enemy or enemy weaponry. They are also awarded posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action.

The Henderson-based 72nd Military Police served in Iraq in 2003, spending several months at Abu Ghraib prison. The 72nd was replaced at the prison by the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police. The 372nd was later at the center of the much-publicized Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.