TOPEKA, Kan. - Three Kansas National Guard Soldiers will be presented the Purple Heart medal at 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, in the Manhattan Armory, 721 Levee Drive, Manhattan, Kan. Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general, will make the presentation.

Staff Sgt. Thomas Tavtigian, 44, of Manhattan, was serving as a patrol leader with the Battery A, 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery the night of August 14, 2008 while deployed to Iraq. Tavtigian was injured during the patrol when a pressure plate Improvised Explosive Device detonated.

Spc. Eric Buila, 39, of Springfield, Missouri served with the 714th Maintenance Company in Iraq. On July 14,2007, Buila was injured while providing convoy security as the gunner in the lead gun-truck when an IED detonated.

Spc. Scott Hajek, 30, of Cimarron, Kansas, deployed with 714th Maintenance Company. He was injured while serving as the lead vehicle gunner on a convoy security patrol during a complex IED ambush and direct fire engagement July 2, 2007.

The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration currently in use anywhere in the world and the first American award made available to enlisted soldiers. It was created by Gen. George Washington as a Badge of Military Merit, but was not used after the War of Independence. It was revived in 1932 on the 200th anniversary of Washington’s birth.

This combat decoration is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy or posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those killed in action or who die as a result of wounds received in action.