Purple Hearted Candor

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

 WASHINGTON – Every month Walter Reed Army Medical Center holds a Purple Heart ceremony for its patients wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A general usually makes brief remarks, the soldiers come forward with their families to receive their medals, and everyone sings a rousing rendition of "The Army Song."

(Things have come a long way since I was wounded in Vietnam and a soldier tossed a Purple Heart on my bed at a field hospital in An Khe. That was the Army's idea of a Purple Heart ceremony in 1970.) 

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jeremy Murphy wears a Purple Heart he just received during a ceremony at Walter Reed Medical Center on Feb. 1  in Washington, DC.

After Walter Reed's ceremony, reporters are allowed to interview the Purple Heart recipients who agree to talk. I love interviewing soldiers because they speak from the gut. No spin. No BS. I ask a question; they answer it, sir.

U.S. has paid a 'hard price'

This past Friday I asked two of them about a recent AP survey which found only one in five Americans knows of anyone killed or wounded in Iraq. I wanted to know if the soldiers believe their sacrifices are appreciated by the rest of the country.

"Before I got injured, I would have probably said no," said Army Sgt. Juan Roldan, 23, of Paterson, N.J. "But now a lot of people have helped us, fortunately, and I think they do appreciate and understand what's going on."

Roldan lost both legs and suffered other injuries in a roadside bombing on Dec. 29, 2006, in Baghdad. He's still recovering at Walter Reed.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

U.S. Army Sergeant Juan Roldan holds his 9-month-old daughter Bryana after receiving the Purple Heart during a ceremony at Walter Reed Medical Center on Feb. 1 in Washington, DC.Â

Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Murphy, 34, of Snohomish, Wash., is recuperating at the hospital from a bullet wound to his head on Aug. 13, 2007, in Baghdad.

"I think [appreciation] depends a lot on the person," Murphy said. "I think generally speaking, yeah, there is an appreciation for what's going on over there."

And how long do they think U.S. troops will remain in Iraq?

"I think we'll be over there a long time, for a long time," Murphy said. "We'll have a base over there for many, many, many years, 20 to 30 years."

Roldan said the U.S. has already paid a "hard price."

"I think we've been there too long," said Roldan. "But I also think that just stopping it all, I don't think it would be too good."

A third Purple Heart recipient, Army Spc. Bradley Buckland, 22, of Detroit, Maine, did not want to be interviewed. He was shot in the hip by a sniper while on patrol in Balad, Iraq.

I am already looking forward to going out to Walter Reed again on Feb. 29. If you have any questions you'd like me to ask the soldiers, let me know, and I'll ask them.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He posts a weekly tribute at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com to service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Daily Nightly blog.