U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Nick Kroeze Jr. will receive a Purple Heart medal, while continuing a recovery that his parents have called miraculous.
Kroeze, 23, was riding in a humvee that was split in half by a roadside bomb near Fallujah, Iraq, on Feb. 7. He is recovering from a fractured heel bone and shoulder, and a torn knee. Earlier concerns about head trauma were completely cleared by a recent MRI.
Kroeze is a member of Keystone Community Christian Reformed Church in Ada, Mich. His parents are Nick Kroeze Sr., president of Kuyper College, and Rev. Gloria Kroeze, a CRC hospital chaplain.
“We have received abundant support [from the Christian Reformed community] that we can’t even begin to fathom,” said Gloria Kroeze. “It’s overwhelming and humbling. . . . [Nick’s] life is a miracle.”
Purple Hearts are awarded to those who are killed or wounded as a result of “hostile enemy actions” while serving with the U.S. military.
About the Author
Roxanne VanFarowe is a freelance writer who claims both Canadian and American citizenship and grew up in the Christian Reformed Church. She is a member of Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham, North Carolina.
