Aug 27, 2005 By Patty Yauger 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE TWP. – With the opening of the new National Guard Readiness Center as a backdrop, two local soldiers and two of their colleagues were honored Friday with Purple Heart medals for bravery while serving in Iraq. Pennsylvania Army National Guardsmen Spc. Timothy J. Boots, Spc. Kevin L. Claycomb, Staff Sgt. Jason A. Leisey and Sgt. Brandon A. Miller received the medals from Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, Pennsylvania adjutant general, and U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D- Johnstown).

Boots, of Connellsville, along with Claycomb, of Scottdale, and Leisey, of Lancaster, were injured April 7 when the Humvee in which they traveling was struck by an explosive devise. A fourth soldier, Staff Sgt. Mark A. Bowman, also was injured in the attack.

Miller was injured June 14 when the Humvee in which he and other members of his platoon were riding struck a land mine.

Miller and Leisey are members of Company A, 1-111th Infantry from the Philadelphia area. The unit combined with Connellsville and other National Guard units to form the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Dragoon.

The brigade entered Iraq in December.

Boots, who is now an outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said he was “honored” to be a Purple Heart recipient.

“It’s a mark of honor,” he said.

While he was humbled by the occasion, Boots said it was just as rewarding to be with his good friends Claycomb and Leisey.

The three, along with Bowman, were returning from their mission to the base camp in northern Iraq when the incident took place.

While Boots remembers the moments leading up to the accident, he said he has relied on others to “fill in the blanks.”

He credits Sgt. Scot Sage for saving his life. “I remember him telling me that I wasn’t going die,” said Boots.

Sage, of South Connellsville, is stationed in Iraq with other members of Company B, 1st Battalion, 103rd Armor unit.

Boots said he recently visited with Sage during his leave from duty and was able to personally thank him for his brave actions.

“He doesn’t think he did anything special,” said Boots. “He thinks me, Jason and Kevin are the heroes. …The ones that responded are the heroes.”

Boots said their training prepared them to react promptly when the car bomb exploded.

“Everybody knew what to do,” he said.

The unit’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Philip J. Logan, said in an earlier interview that Sage and the other responding soldiers were selfless in their actions.

“Other soldiers from the patrol, at great personal risk, immediately extracted the wounded personnel from the burning vehicle, saving their lives,” Logan said.

Boots has since received a prosthetic leg and was hiking in the Colorado mountains earlier in the week. He occasionally uses a wheelchair and a cane. “I’m doing well,” he said. “I have a couple more months of therapy.”

Claycomb continues to recover from his injuries at Walter Reed, while Leisey still receives treatment at the Fort Sam Houston Hospital in Texas. After treatment for his injuries, Bowman returned to active duty with the unit, according to a spokeswoman with the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Miller said his patrol unit had been dispatched from the base to recover a Turkish vehicle and escort the mechanics to the site. As they returned, their Humvee ran over an anti-tank mine.

“I could see (the base) guard towers. We were only a couple of hundred meters away, and I started taking my gloves and night vision off when all of a sudden we exploded into a ball of fire,” Miller recalled.

After freeing himself from the vehicle and extinguishing the flames that had enveloped him, Miller went to the aid of his fellow soldiers who also had been injured.

Miller eventually was transported to the Fort Sam Houston Hospital burn unit, where he spent several weeks recovering from third-degree burns to his right hand and second-degree burns to his left hand, face, nose and ear. He has since returned to his Chadds Fort home.

“Everything is just about healed,” he said.

While honored to be a recipient of the Purple Heart, Miller said he would rather the accident not have taken place. He said he had no regrets about serving in Iraq for his country and that he and Leisey volunteered for the mission.

“It’s what we wanted to do,” he said. “We wanted to go.”

Capt. Corey Angell, Pennsylvania Army National Guard public affairs officer, said approximately 100 guardsmen have been awarded the Purple Heart since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

More than 3,000 Pennsylvania guardsmen are stationed in Iraq. Eleven Pennsylvania guardsmen have been killed in action.