Marcy Kaptur: “this week Matthew Drake, a soldier who had been serving our Nation in Iraq, was awarded the Purple Heart for grave…”

“this week Matthew Drake, a soldier who had been serving our Nation in Iraq, was awarded the Purple Heart for grave injuries he sustained on October 15, 2004, in Anwar Province, Iraq. May I please extend to him and to his family warmest congratulations and deepest gratitude on behalf of the people of the United States. Private First Class Drake, a resident of Toledo, Ohio, and graduate of Sylvania North High School, while driving a 6-ton truck became the only survivor of a bombing. Comatose, he had a fractured skull, severe head injuries, multiple back injuries, many broken bones, and damage to his right arm and shoulder. He underwent many surgeries while hospitalized in Germany at both military as well as German private hospitals and more after traveling to Walter Reed Army Hospital here in Washington where he remained in a coma for many weeks. Matthew Drake survived by all accounts miraculously and will undergo rehabilitation for a very long time. He has been courageous in his journey. He said this week that on receiving this Purple Heart he wanted to be able to stand from his wheelchair in order to have it pinned on him. Throughout the months since Matt was wounded, his family has struggled to afford what is necessary to help him to travel to the hospitals on our coasts where people have been trying to help him. For his family to be near him and to help his very long rehabilitation, a fund was established at Sky Bank in Toledo, Ohio, on his behalf.…”