三名美国士兵因在导弹袭击中不顾自身伤势、坚持协助战友而荣获“紫心勋章”。3月27日，“Epic Fury”行动期间，一枚导弹袭击了位于沙特阿拉伯阿尔卡赫尔的Prince Sultan空军基地。当时，隶属于第1骑兵师炮兵部队、第56防空炮兵团第6营的卡洛布·米切尔（Kalob Mitchell）中士、尼古拉斯·卡博（Nicholas Cabo）下士和泽维尔·琼斯（Xavier Jones）中士立即展开救援行动。
Three U.S. soldiers were awarded Purple Hearts for their efforts assisting fellow service members despite their own injuries after a missile attack hit their air base during Operation Epic Fury On March 27, when a missile hit Prince Sultan Air Base in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia, Staff Sgt. Kalob Mitchell, Spc. Nicholas Cabo and Sgt. Xavier Jones, all with the 6th Battalion, 56th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division Artillery, sprang into action.
一枚重达550磅的弹道导弹在基地内的一处掩体附近爆炸，爆炸产生的灰尘和碎片弥漫了整个掩体内部。
A 550-pound ballistic missile exploded yards from a bunker on base, filling it with dust and debris.
米切尔在一份最新发布的声明中回忆道：“我们当时正在那里聊天，突然间一切都安静了下来——没有任何声音，周围一片漆黑，显然我们被击中了。我们原本以为只是又一次导弹警报，但没想到导弹真的击中了我们。我们被抛出了掩体，撞到了对面的墙壁上，导致三人全部失去意识。当天晚些时候，我们在基地内的医疗设施接受了初步治疗。”
“We’re sitting there talking, and then all of a sudden, we didn’t hear anything, no sound at all. Everything went black, so we were hit,” Mitchell said in a recent release While expecting just another missile warning, the soldiers were thrown from their position and slammed against the opposing interior wall, forcing all three to lose consciousness. They had their initial medical evaluation later that day at the Role 2 Medical Facility on base.
米切尔等人立即对受伤的士兵进行了急救：他们为一名伤势严重的士兵使用了止血带，并对另一名颈部受伤的士兵进行了紧急处理；同时他们还帮助那位处于昏迷状态的士兵保持安全，直到可以安全撤离掩体为止。
“Woke up, checked on them. They were good. At that time, we heard screams from the opposite side of the bunker. Two Soldiers, I’m not too sure who they were, who had significant injuries; ran over there, applied tourniquets, T Triple C (Tactical Combat Casualty Care), everything,” Mitchell recounted.
尽管自己也受了伤，但这三名士兵仍坚持继续帮助其他人，将伤员抬往救护车，并照料了一名腿部严重受伤的士兵。他们认为，如果没有他们的及时救助，这名士兵很可能丧生。
Mitchell, Cabo and Jones applied a tourniquet to a severely wounded soldier, treated another with a neck injury and helped keep a disoriented soldier safe until it was safe to evacuate the bunker, per the release. Despite their own injuries, the trio continued to assist others, carrying others out to an ambulance and helping a soldier whose leg was severely damaged, speculating that the soldier could have lost their life if not for the group.
第1骑兵师ADAR第66炮兵团的团长泰勒·里特上尉收到了那位受伤士兵发来的消息，内容如下：“长官，是您的士兵们救了我的命。我每天都在感谢上帝，让他们能够活下来。他们的英勇行为为ADAR第66防空炮兵团、第1骑兵师以及第三装甲军赢得了巨大的荣誉。这些士兵就是我的英雄，愿上帝保佑他们。”米切尔、卡博和琼斯的表现被赞誉为“战争中的英勇表现、高度的战斗准备状态、坚韧不拔的精神以及对自己战友的无私关怀”——正是这些品质，使他们各自在10月1日于德克萨斯州胡德堡第三装甲军总部举行的仪式上被授予了“紫心勋章”。
Capt. Tyler Ritter, commander of 6-56 ADAR, 1st Cav. DIVARTY, received messages from the injured soldier saying, “Sir, your Soldiers saved my life. I thank God every day that these gentlemen survived. Their actions brought great credit upon the 6-56 Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division and III Armored Corps. These Soldiers are my heroes. May God bless them.”Mitchell, Cabo and Jones’ service, described as the “ultimate description of what we mean when we talk about warfighting, readiness, grit and taking care of our Soldiers,” earned them each a Purple Heart during an Oct. 1 ceremony at the III Armored Corps headquarters building at Fort Hood, Texas. “So honestly, it’s kind of cool,” Jones said in the release.
“说实话，这真的挺酷的，”琼斯在新闻稿中表示，“我们谁当初都没有想过自己会获得‘紫心勋章’……因为当时的情况实在太可怕了……当我看到自己的‘士兵才能档案’（STP）上写着‘紫心勋章’时，我简直不敢相信自己真的会获得这个荣誉。”
“I don’t think any of us was like going for a Purple Heart because it actually sucked. Like that situation was horrible … When I saw it on my STP (Soldier Talent Profile), I was like, man, I never would have thought I would have got a Purple Heart. I never thought I was going to see anything like we saw.”