Capt. David Golden, 562nd Flying Training Squadron instructor, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, recounts the day he received lacerations to his forehead after shrapnel glanced off the glass of his ballistic eye wear while deployed as an Electronic Warfare Officer to Forward Operating Base Orgun-E in eastern Afghanistan. Team Randolph members were in the audience for Captain Golden's Purple Heart award ceremony, which was presided over by Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz (right), commander of Air Education and Training Command. (U.S. Air Force photo/Steve Thurow)

Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz (left) commander of Air Education and Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, presents a Purple Heart to Capt. David Golden, 562nd Flying Training Squadron, during a ceremony at the base Sept. 1. Captain Golden, who had been deployed as an electronic warfare officer to Forward Operating Base Orgun-E in eastern Afghanistan, considers himself lucky because the rocket attack on Sept. 28 could have been much more tragic for him and the members of the mortar squad. He suffered lacerations to his forehead after shrapnel glanced off the glass of his ballistic eyewear; the others suffered more severe injuries, but eventually returned to duty. (U.S. Air Force photo/Joel Martinez)

Capt. David Golden, 562nd Flying Training Squadron instructor, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, recounts the day he received lacerations to his forehead after shrapnel glanced off the glass of his ballistic eye wear while deployed as an Electronic Warfare Officer to Forward Operating Base Orgun-E in eastern Afghanistan. Team Randolph members were in the audience for Captain Golden's Purple Heart award ceremony, which was presided over by Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz (right), commander of Air Education and Training Command. (U.S. Air Force photo/Steve Thurow)

Capt. David Golden, 562nd Flying Training Squadron instructor, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, listens as Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz, commander of Air Education and Training Command, provides opening remarks during a Purple Heart ceremony. Captain Golden was awarded the Purple Heart for lacerations to his forehead after shrapnel glanced off the glass of his ballistic eyewear while deployed as an Electronic Warfare Officer to Forward Operating Base Orgun-E in eastern Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Steve Thurow)