SPRINGFIELD, Ill.
(AP) -- A Purple Heart recipient from Illinois
will be the guest of Assistant U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Dick Durbin at the
State of the Union address.
Sgt. 1st Class Pedro Ortiz-Roman from Chicago will join the Illinois Democrat for
President Barack Obama's fifth annual address before Congress.
Ortiz-Roman is a native of Puerto Rico who moved to Chicago as a child and joined the service in
2001. The Army Ranger served seven combat tours in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
He received the Purple Heart and the Army Commendation Medal with Valor for
saving fellow Rangers pinned down by enemy fire in Iraq.
He has since trained commandos in South
Africa, Suriname
and Panama.
Durbin began hosting wounded soldiers from Illinois in 2005 with Army Maj. Tammy
Duckworth, now a member of Congress.
