Sen. Banks pins long-deserved Purple Heart on Iraq veteran after nearly two decades

Republican Indiana Sen. Jim Banks presented the Purple Heart to former Army National Guard Specialist Robert Drudy on Tuesday, almost 20 years after his injury in the line of duty.

Drudy was injured by a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) during Operation Iraqi Freedom on Oct. 2, 2008, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury after the bomb launched his vehicle high into the air. Drudy was on a convoy escort patrol crossing an Iraqi Police checkpoint after departing the forward operating base Liberty in Baghdad.

Banks presented him the award alongside Fort Wayne, Ind. Mayor Sharon Tucker spoke on Veterans Day at the fourth annual Northeast Indiana Defense Summit.

“From time to time, we hear about mistakes that the military has made, recognitions that weren’t properly given, and we do everything that we can on team Banks to make sure that we right those wrongs and make up for it,” Banks said in his remarks. “I couldn’t be prouder that today we get to provide this Purple Heart to Fort Wayne resident and former Army Specialist Robert Drudy.”

Senator @Jim_Banks and Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker award the Purple Heart to Former Army Specialist Robert Drudy. He suffered a traumatic brain injury from an IED explosion in Iraq on Oct. 2, 2008.

Happy Veterans Day! pic.twitter.com/SQiqEWy5OJ

— Wallace H. White (@WallHWhite) November 11, 2025

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll approved the Purple Heart on Sept. 30, according to the official report. IEDs were responsible for 48% of the deaths for all overseas contingency operations between 2006 and 2021.

Banks hosted a slew of defense industry and military leaders for the conference, with War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan scheduled to speak on Wednesday. Hegseth recently signed a flurry of new orders aimed at overhauling the procurement and acquisition process for defense contractors and the Pentagon, aiming to streamline the notoriously sluggish and bureaucratic process.

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