Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Joel Quebec | Army Reserve Ambassador Allie Braswell, left, stands with Sgt. 1st Class Robert Mintz...... read more read more
TAMPA, Fla. - Few events in a soldier’s life make as much of an impact or leave as lasting a memory as an incident resulting in a Purple Heart medal.
On Sept. 18, 2008 such an event happened to Sgt. 1st Class (then Staff Sgt.) Robert Mintz of the 320th Military Police Company from St. Petersburg, Fla., while he was in the lead vehicle of a convoy in Tikrit, Iraq. On Dec. 1, 2012, Mintz was awarded the Purple Heart at the Lovejoy Army Reserve Center in Tampa, Fla.
The narrative statement for the medal describes an improvised explosive device that’s detonation force was sufficient to lift the 30,000-plus pound Mine Resistant Ambush Protected or MRAP vehicle off the ground until it landed some 15-20 feet away from the blast site, while Mintz bounced around the inside. After all personnel were accounted for and found to be alive, the soldiers regrouped out of the kill zone with rest of the convoy, after which, Mintz led a dismounted patrol back to the area of the attack where they apprehended one of the perpetrators. Mintz was later diagnosed with a concussion and traumatic brain injury, which led the awarding of the Purple Heart.
“It was a rough day,” Mintz said after the ceremony. “But we did our jobs, just as we were supposed to do.” For Mintz, it isn’t about the medal, but about his troops and knowing that they all made it home after the deployment.
“I didn’t like what he had to do to get [the Purple Heart],” said his wife, Tracy. “But we’re very proud of him.”
Along with the medal, Mintz was given a flag by an aide to Congressman Bill Young with an accompanying certificate stating that the flag had been flown over the national capitol.
| Date Taken: | 12.01.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 12.03.2012 16:29 |
| Story ID: | 98672 |
| Location: | TAMPA, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | PLANT CITY, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 242 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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