1st Battalion 22nd Infantry News September 2010

‘Regular’ Soldier receives Purple Heart from U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

By: Spc. Breanne Pye

1st Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (September 3) – U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, presented a wounded Task Force ‘Regular’ Soldier
the Purple Heart Friday during a ceremony held at Kandahar Air Base.

Pfc. Adam Moreau, assigned to Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
received the Purple Heart for wounds sustained when his convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device Aug. 30
while conducting a combat logistics patrol near the Arghandab river valley outside Kandahar City.

“I feel honored that the Secretary of Defense would take time out of his busy schedule to present me this award,” said Moreau.
“It feels good to know that he cares about all of us Soldiers and that he recognizes and supports all the hard work we are doing on the ground here.”

Though the 24-year-old native of Augusta, Maine is currently recuperating from his wounds on Kandahar Air Field, Moreau has chosen
to return to his unit and continue his mission in the Arghandab river valley once his wounds have healed.

“I think it says a lot, that he is anxious to return to his unit and get back to his job,” said Sgt. Alex Faiivae, Team Leader for Delta Company, 1-22 IN.
“He was given a choice. Go home and support the unit from the rear, or heal up and come back to work.”

Adam is an outstanding Soldier, said Faiivae. He knows his job very well and has always made a point of looking after his fellow Soldiers.
His courage, selfless service and sense of duty truly exemplify the Army’s core values.

Though he said he has had plenty of support on KAF, Moreau is eager to get back to his ‘Regular’ brothers.

“I appreciate all the support I’m getting here,” said Moreau. “But I’m really looking forward to getting back to my platoon
and being around the guys that know me best.”

If there’s one thing people can take away from his experiences, Moreau said he hopes they will remember that he got a Purple Heart
because of something that happened to his team, not something that happened to him.

“I’m just a regular Soldier,” Moreau said. “I wake up, go to work, and do my job. When I look at this award, it will remind me of my team,
and all we have been through, not me, and all I have been through.”

Secretary Gates and PFC Adam Moreau
stand at attention at Kandahar Airfield
as the Purple Heart Award ceremony begins.

PFC Moreau was wounded in the IED blast
on August 30, 2010, which killed
1LT Mark Noziska and SSG Casey Grochowiak.

Locals graduate from military training
September 05, 2010 4:20 AM

Barrow completes training

Army Pvt. Austin J. Barrow has completed nine weeks of basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga.
He also attended Airborne School, earned his wings and is qualified as an Army infantry paratrooper.

Pvt. Barrow is following a long family history of Army Soldiers. He is the son of Kathy Barrow and Troy Barrow and the grandson
of Tomas and Dorothy Seagle, Walter and Joyce Barrow and June Barrow. He is a 2008 graduate of Crestview Senior High School
and a Big Red Machine drum line alumni.

Barrow is currently serving with the 1st Battalion of the 22nd Infantry, part of the 4th Infantry division at Fort Carson, Colo.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – As the Soldiers approached the village, a child stepped out from behind a wall and reached up to point to a pen
poking out of the nearest Soldier’s pocket. The Soldier pulled the pen out and offered it to the young boy, who snatched it up and immediately ran away.

Seconds later, the Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
who had been conducting a joint combat patrol through the the outskirts of Kandahar 20-24 Sep., were surrounded
by dozens of eager children, all hoping for prizes of their own.

Soldiers of Task Force ‘Regular’ were patrolling the area as part of a campaign to build rapport with local villagers
and provide security and stability to the local population, said Cpt. Bradley Rudy, commander, Bravo Company, 1-22IN, 1BCT, 4th Inf. Div.

“A big part of our job is to listen to the residents’ concerns and suggestions so we can help them out with the little things,” said Rudy.
“We’re here to show them we care about their welfare and want to secure a better future for them.”

It’s the little things we can do that let the people know we can be trusted and are here to help, said Spc. Jeff Hoggard,
medic assigned to 3^rd platoon, B Company, 1-22IN, 1BCT, 4th Inf Div.

Hoggard knows a thing or two about making a difference with the little things. During the patrol, he was approached by a young girl
who was carrying her baby sister on her back. The little girl couldn’t walk because she had a cut on the bottom of her foot.

“She didn’t want candy or pens, like the other children,” said Hoggard. “She simply wanted a bandage
and some medicine to put on her sister’s injured foot.”

“A lot of the time when we are on patrols like this, we find children with cuts on their arms and feet,” he said.
“It doesn’t take much to clean their wounds and bandage them up, and a little compassion goes a long ways.”

“We are already seeing a difference in the way we are received in these villages,” said Rudy. “A few months ago,
we would only see a child or two as we patrol through the streets; but now, village elders and children alike come out to greet us.”

“This is about building a better connection with the people,” said Rudy. “Whether we’re providing them medical treatment
or passing out school supplies to their youth; we are building a powerful and lasting relationship that the Afghan people know they can trust.”