Purple Hearts conferred on soldiers attacked at LR recruiting station

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow pins a Purple Heart for slain soldier Pvt. William Long on Long's father, Daris Long, during a ceremony Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow pins a Purple Heart for slain soldier Pvt. William Long on Long's father, Daris Long, during a ceremony Wednesday, July 1, 2015.

One soldier who was killed and a second who was injured in a shooting outside of a recruiting station in Little Rock in 2009 were awarded Purple Hearts on Wednesday at a ceremony at the Arkansas Capitol.

Daris Long, the father of Pvt. William Andrew "Andy" Long, accepted the honor on behalf of his son, who was killed in the June 1, 2009, shooting at the Little Rock Army-Navy Career Center on Rodney Parham Road.

Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, who was injured in the attack, accepted his Purple Heart in person during the ceremony, which was attended by Arkansas Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton, U.S. Rep. French Hill and Gov. Asa Hutchinson, among others.

Army Major Gen. Jeffrey Snow, who pinned the Purple Hearts on Ezeagwula and Daris Long, called the shootings a "tragic attack" for which the two recipients deserve the award.

"They were specifically targeted for their devotion to our country and defending our way of life," he said.

The shooter, Abdulhakim Muhammad, was sentenced to life in prison for the shootings, which he said were in retaliation for U.S. policy in the Middle East.

The two Arkansas soldiers were made eligible for the Purple Heart after a provision Boozman wrote in the National Defense Authorization Act allowing the awards for servicemen targeted because of their membership in the military or in an attack "carried out by a foreign terrorist organization."

With a voice at times audible with emotion, Daris Long recounted the efforts to make his son and Ezeagwula eligible for the award and thanked supporters along the way.

He also told the crowd gathered in the second-floor rotunda how his son called him once from training, but Daris Long was busy and made it a hurried conversation. He regretted it that night and wrote his son a letter, apologizing and swearing "that if he ever needed me, I would be there for him."

"This was never just about getting the Purple Heart for our son and Quinton," he said. "It was about keeping that promise to Andy. It was about accurately identifying what really happened in Little Rock and in Fort Hood. These acts were not simply a drive-by shooting or workplace violence. They were terrorist attacks on our service members in our own land."

See Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.

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Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, right, is congratulated after receiving the Purple Heart during a ceremony Wednesday, July 1, 2015.

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