Eight U-S soldiers have been awarded the Purple Heart medal for wounds during combat in eastern Afghanistan.
The medals were presented Saturday to 10th Mountain Division troops, during a ceremony at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul.
Major General F-L Hagenbeck, the joint task force commander in Afghanistan, presented the medals. General Hagenbeck praised the medal winners for their efforts against al-Qaida and Taleban forces in a 16-hour firefight two weeks ago in eastern Afghanistan.