Veteran’s Purple Heart comes after struggle to have TBI recognized

Veteran’s Purple Heart comes after struggle to have war injury recognized

FARGO - Saturday was a day more than three years in the making for Iraq War veteran Russell “Rusty” Ouart and his wife, Marilyn.
By: Jessica Ballou, jballou@forumcomm.com, INFORUM
February 04, 2012

Spc. Russell “Rusty” Ouart, seated, receives a standing ovation during his Purple Heart award ceremonies Saturday morning at the Fargo Armed Forces Reserve Center. David Samson / The Forum

FARGO - Saturday was a day more than three years in the making for Iraq War veteran Russell “Rusty” Ouart and his wife, Marilyn.

Three years after suffering a traumatic brain injury from a mortar attack while on duty in Baghdad, Ouart was finally awarded a Purple Heart at a packed ceremony inside the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Fargo.

The Purple Heart is awarded to those killed or injured in war combat, and only under certain conditions.

A former firefighter, Ouart enlisted in the North Dakota National Guard in 2006, though he had previously served in the Navy.

Ouart knew he wanted to join the Guard as soon as he saw footage of the 9/11 attacks. He enlisted when the Army raised the age limit for joining from 35 to 42. He was 41. He had lost more than 70 pounds to meet fitness requirements.

The award ceremony came so long after his injury because of many misdiagnoses by members of the medical and military community. Ouart was told the debilitating headaches, vertigo, short-term memory loss and constant fatigue were all just in his head.

But Ouart and his family refused to believe it was all in his head.

Their quest for treatment took the father of three to a New Orleans-area facility where he and other veterans breathed in 100 percent oxygen in a sealed room. The treatment, once reserved for divers suffering from “the bends,” has caught the eye of the military as a promising option for injured soldiers, and it helped Ouart.

Dr. Paul Harch treated Ouart with that hyperbaric therapy and was on hand for Saturday’s ceremony, but not without difficulty.
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