3 Pa. soldiers receive Purple Hearts

Nine members of the unit have been wounded over the past five months.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Three soldiers with Company A of the 107th Field Artillery Unit of the Pennsylvania National Guard have been awarded Purple Heart medals for injuries suffered in hostile action near Mosul, Iraq.
The 107th, based in an armory on North Hermitage Road, is serving as a military police unit in Iraq.
Spc. Eric Probst of New Castle, Spc. Lawrence Vogel of Slippery Rock and Spc. Roger Leed of Drumore received the medals in separate ceremonies held by Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, commander, Task Force Olympia.
Probst and Vogel suffered shrapnel wounds when insurgents ambushed their squad with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire outside an Iraqi police station during attacks that rocked the northern city of Mosul on the morning of June 24.
In recent weeks, the insurgents have been switching from nighttime attacks to the daylight hours and the confusion and anonymity a bustling city brings, according to a release from the 107th announcing the medals.
Leed suffered a concussion in late March when the armored humvee he was driving as part of an escort convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device.
Improvised explosive devices are easily disguised along roadways as trash or in debris and allow the ambushers to remain in relative safety in the hopes of damaging coalition equipment or injuring personnel, the news release said.
Returned to duty
The soldiers were eager to return to duty and rejoin their comrades. The medics of the 67th Combat Support Hospital treated the soldiers, and Probst and Vogel returned immediately to duty. Leed spent a night in observation before returning to duty.
Nine soldiers with the 107th have been wounded since the unit went to Iraq nearly five months ago.
"If these insurgents think for one minute that their attacks have weakened our resolve, they are badly mistaken. All they have done is cause outrage and bring a united company closer together," said 1st Sgt. David Gatewood of Mercer.
The Purple Heart, the military's oldest honor, dates to Gen. George Washington and is awarded only to soldiers who have suffered wounds as a direct result of action by hostile forces.