President Trump makes his first visit as Commander-in-chief to Walter Reed Medical Center.
President Trump presented the Purple Heart to Sgt. First Class Alvaro Barrientos, who was wounded on 17 March when an Afghan soldier opened fire at a base in Helmand province, Afghanistan. As a result of the incident Barrientos’s right leg was amputated below the knee. Two other US soldiers were wounded in the green on the blue attack before the Afghan soldier was killed.
A spokesman for the Afghan military in the south of the country said the shooting was a mistake by the soldier and it was not a deliberate attack. The results and the situation, however, proved otherwise. “The guard lost his life in exchange of fire,” Mohammad Rasoul Zazai told Reuters. The Afghan special forces soldier was shot dead after firing at the Americans.
Sgt. First Class Barrientos entered the Walter Reed atrium for the meeting in a wheelchair, accompanied by his wife, Tammy whom Trump kissed on the cheek before pinning the medal on the sergeant’s left shirt collar. The President then grasped Barrientos by the shoulders and shook his hand. The Purple Heart is given to US service members who are wounded or killed in action.
“When I heard about this, I wanted to do it myself,” Trump told Barrientos during the brief ceremony at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. “Congratulations, tremendous.”
Trump’s visit to the hospital, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, was not listed on the president’s public schedule before Saturday morning when he announced he would be going to Walter Reed with a tweet, “Looking forward to seeing our bravest and greatest Americans!”
Besides Sgt. First Class Barrientos, Trump was expected to meet with about a dozen service members who are receiving care at the medical center. The visit to Walter Reed was Trump’s first since taking office.
In February, President Trump flew to Dover AFB on Marine One, along with his daughter, Ivanka, and Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, to honor William Ryan Owens. Chief Petty Officer Ryan Owens was a Navy Seal killed during a raid in Yemen authorized by President Trump. His widow, Carryn Owens, attended the President’s February address to Congress at his invitation and sat in the first lady’s box next to the Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
President Trump was driven to Maryland instead of flying in the Marine One helicopter, the way presidents typically travel to Walter Reed, due to annual public tours of the White House south grounds and gardens that were taking place Saturday.
