An auditorium full of military men and women gathered at Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center on Wednesday morning to honor an Airman from the 59th Medical Wing with the Purple Heart award.
The event featured two inspirational men.
Tech. Sgt. Christopher Barker, 34, was the guest of honor, followed by former Dallas Cowboys running back Herschel Walker.
Barker said he still struggles with injuries he received while serving in Iraq in 2006.
"We were engaged by insurgents and I had a grenade thrown at me and received some injuries from that," Barker said.
Barker has had more than 30 surgeries and countless hours of rehabilitation
He said his 3-year-old son, Dalton, has been his inspiration.
"Trying to go back to 100 percent, just to do the things with your son that you never had a chance to do," he said.
After Barker received his Purple Heart Award, the audience was treated to a presentation by Herschel Walker.
Walker was there to share his own struggle with dissociative identity disorder, in hopes of encouraging service members to seek treatment for mental health issues.
"I try to let these men and women know that there's no shame to ask for the help that I did," said Walker.
Walker said continued treatment has turned his life around.
He said he used to be reckless, playing games like Russian roulette and was abusive toward his then wife.
Now, he is a successful businessman and claims he can now run faster than ever.
Most importantly, he said he's now a good father to his son.
He has visited more than 65 military installations across the country, and hopes his story will make a difference for the nations' heroes.
"There's a price for freedom and these young men and women are paying a price for me and whenever I can do anything to say thank you, that's what I want to do," he said.
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