The Veterans Day Ceremony at the World War I and II Memorial at the Peoria County Courthouse included a rare Purple Heart pinning.
Retired Army Master Sergeant Jack Harlan did five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Harlen received the honor as part of the ceremony. "It’s probably as nervous as I have been in my 23 years of service. I’ve never had an award presented to me with this big of crowd. So it was an extreme honor, and to have all the veterans here from World War II on it just gave me goosebumps.”
The act Harlan received the Purple Heart for was in 2007 in Iraq. The Abingdon, Ilinois native was in a 9-man, three-vehicle transition team, that sustained an IED hit. He was unconscious with a traumatic brain injury, came to and continued to engage the enemy.
Harlan retired in July. That made this Harlan's first Veterans Day, official serving as a veteran. He says he recognizes he's standing with a special breed. "Just like they say, there’s not a whole lot of us that do it in America anymore. And for us to come together and continue to support each other, there’s nothing else like it.”
Harlan and his young family are living and working in Iowa. But Harlan says he hopes one day to work for the V-A.