BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (August 23, 2008) — The Purple Heart Award is given to Soldiers who have been wounded by the enemy in combat and dates back to the Revolutionary War.

Spc. Vicente Torres, a motor vehicle operator from Alpha Company, 201st Brigade Support Battalion and San Diego native, was awarded a Purple Heart, Aug. 18, for wounds suffered July 17.

The Purple Heart was presented by Lt. Col. Bradley White, 201st BSB commander.

Torres said he does not feel like he did anything special to receive the Purple Heart, he was just doing his job.

He and his combat logistics patrol team members conducted a convoy up to a FOB in northern Nuristan to bring them supplies that could not be airlifted.

On the return trip, the lead vehicle spotted a freshly-painted white rock. The convoy stopped and the lead vehicle went to investigate the suspicious rock but did not find any IEDs.

They got back in their trucks and proceeded along the narrow, unpaved mountain road. After about 100 meters, the convoy was attacked from both sides by anti-Afghan forces.

For approximately half an hour the enemy continuously hit the convoy with multiple RPG and small-arms fire.

Torres was the gunner in a humvee, which was struck by an RPG immediately after the attack began. He received shrapnel in his right wrist from the blast, but stayed in the fight. He continued to return fire with his left hand while a medic bandaged his wounded wrist.

“The actions of everyone that day, not just Torres, proved we were trained and ready for this deployment,” White said. “The fact that he kept fighting even though he was injured is proof to the kind of Soldier Torres is.”

While Torres was recognized for the wounds he received that day, he praised his fellow Soldiers who were with them that day.

They might not have gotten an award, but they still did their job, Torres said. The team made it out of that attack because they all worked together as a team.

 “Torres performed heroically that day,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin Vaughn, from Baudin, S.C. “If he had not done what he did people would have died.”