Col. Lou Lartigue (from left), commander of 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division - Center; Spc. Shawn M. Mason, a military police officer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th AAB, and a Harrisburg, Pa., native; and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates stand on stage Sept. 1 at Camp Ramadi, Iraq, before awarding the Purple Heart to Mason for wounds he suffered when his vehicle was struck with an RKG-3 grenade Aug. 9 near Fallujah, Iraq.