Palm Bay Marine Receives Purple Heart At City Hall
By Ed Pierce // August 16, 2012
Ceremony Honors His Service To America
BREVARD COUNTY • PALM BAY, FLORIDA – U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Chad S. White of the 2nd Battalion 9th Marines will receive the Purple Heart for wounds he suffered during a tour of duty in Afghanistan during a special ceremony tonight at the Palm Bay City Hall Council Chambers.
White, 25, who is from Palm Bay, was in Afghanistan from July 2010 to February 2011 and was wounded in August 2010 when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb.
He sustained a grade III concussion with neck, back and leg injuries.
White’s unit was on a special security assignment at the time of the incident.
As a result of the injuries, White was medically retired on April 28 and returned home to Palm Bay where he lives with his wife and 3-year-old daughter.
“I am happy he is alive and now home back in Palm Bay where they can all be a family,” said Tracey Haskell-Russell, whose daughter is married White. “It has been a long struggle for them throughout his military service but we are all very proud of him.”
The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the United States Armed Forces who, while in the course of duty, is wounded or killed.
