Abilene, Texas native Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Carroll

Abilene, Texas native Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Carroll assigned to B Company, 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, a U.S. Army Reserve unit based at Newport Navy Base, R.I., is awarded the Purple Heart Medal from Col. Mark H. Landes, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Commander on Forward Operating Base Shank on Nov. 12. Carroll was on the phone with his mother in the base morale center. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and eventually required a week of bed rest. Carroll struggled to react in the aftermath. “The first thing is we got in the bunker. Then we were just trying to maintain security and get people to the medics.” It was several hours before he was able to find a phone and tell his mother he was alive.”