MONTICELLO - Six years ago, Staff Sgt. Joshua Koch of Sun Prairie, was stationed in Iraq, serving his country. Today, the 2003 Monticello High School graduate is newly decorated with the Purple Heart, a combat decoration for those wounded by an instrument of war.
Koch was presented the military honor Friday, Oct. 18, at the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs Joint Force Headquarters in Madison. Brigadier General Mark Anderson, the top officer in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, presented the award.
The award comes six years after Koch suffered a concussion from an exploding mortar round that impacted nearby while he was directing other military personnel to safety about 9:30 p.m. June 28, 2007, at Camp Cedar II in Iraq.
Koch was serving with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery during the attack. Two other members of his unit have already received Purple Hearts for their injuries that day, Koch said.
His unit had just finished a mission, in which they were training a California National Guard unit scheduled to replace them. Koch and another soldier noticed a flash of light in the distance and recognized the sign of an incoming enemy attack. The camp received multiple mortar rounds.
A medic with the unit treated him and the other injured soldiers, and they returned to their own base the next day, Koch said. Koch eventually was treated at the base medical facility. He returned to duty three days after the attack.
Koch currently serves as the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear noncommissioned office-in-charge in the Madison-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment. He is preparing to go before a board in May to become a Blackhawk pilot.
"It's an honor to serve my county," Koch said. "I'll do it until they force me out."
He credited members of his regiment with working hard to get his award paperwork and medical documents in order and submitted. He said the rules for receiving a Purple Heart have changed since 2007 and required more of his medical documents.
Koch is the son of James Koch, Monticello, and Roseann Younger, Kansas City, Mo. His family, including his parents, grandmother Mary Ann Koch of Monroe, 17-month-old daughter Caroline, and aunts, uncles and cousins attended the ceremony.
Koch was presented the military honor Friday, Oct. 18, at the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs Joint Force Headquarters in Madison. Brigadier General Mark Anderson, the top officer in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, presented the award.
The award comes six years after Koch suffered a concussion from an exploding mortar round that impacted nearby while he was directing other military personnel to safety about 9:30 p.m. June 28, 2007, at Camp Cedar II in Iraq.
Koch was serving with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery during the attack. Two other members of his unit have already received Purple Hearts for their injuries that day, Koch said.
His unit had just finished a mission, in which they were training a California National Guard unit scheduled to replace them. Koch and another soldier noticed a flash of light in the distance and recognized the sign of an incoming enemy attack. The camp received multiple mortar rounds.
A medic with the unit treated him and the other injured soldiers, and they returned to their own base the next day, Koch said. Koch eventually was treated at the base medical facility. He returned to duty three days after the attack.
Koch currently serves as the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear noncommissioned office-in-charge in the Madison-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment. He is preparing to go before a board in May to become a Blackhawk pilot.
"It's an honor to serve my county," Koch said. "I'll do it until they force me out."
He credited members of his regiment with working hard to get his award paperwork and medical documents in order and submitted. He said the rules for receiving a Purple Heart have changed since 2007 and required more of his medical documents.
Koch is the son of James Koch, Monticello, and Roseann Younger, Kansas City, Mo. His family, including his parents, grandmother Mary Ann Koch of Monroe, 17-month-old daughter Caroline, and aunts, uncles and cousins attended the ceremony.