Veterans invited to Purple Heart Dinner
Purple Heart Medal recipients and military veterans are invited to the eighth annual Wake Forest Purple Heart Dinner on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 5:30 p.m., at Richland Creek Community Church at 3229 Burlington Mills Road. Hosted by the Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation, the dinner is an opportunity for the public to help honor those wounded in battle. In addition to Purple Heart Medal recipients and their families, the dinner is open to all veterans, military families and the public. This year’s keynote speaker is retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Timothy Payne of Raleigh. An 11-year veteran, he was deployed three times with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg. Payne was on foot patrol in Afghanistan on July 3, 2011, when a 30-pound improvised explosive device detonated under him. Payne lost both legs in the explosion and spent more than a year and a half in the hospital,