Crowe receives Purple Heart citation

From Staff Reports

   Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, on Thursday received the Purple Heart citation from the National Organization of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. A surprise ceremony was held for Sen. Crowe on the Senate floor for the work he has done to assist veterans.
   "I am extremely proud of this award as a veteran and Senate Chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Veterans Affairs. I know that our veterans cared more about the purpose of liberty and freedom than they did even their own lives," Crowe said.
   Crowe told fellow senators that his father survived 31 military missions and that his uncle and namesake, Dewey E. Crowe, died in 1942 over Kiska Island during World War II.
   "His Purple Heart and wings hang on my Senate office wall to remind me every day of the price of the freedoms that we all enjoy today," he said.
   Crowe served in Southeast Asia, during the Vietnam war, from 1967 to 1971.