While 55 military members from Wisconsin have been killed in Iraq, 30 more have received Purple Heart medals for injuries.

Kevin Kavanaugh is the past state commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Wisconsin. He says the war in Iraq is unique because there are a lot more survivors with more traumatic injuries than Vietnam. Kavanaugh says that's because surgeons are right there, closer to the wounded.

Military officials say most of the 2,464 members of the US military killed in Iraq have received the Purple Heart posthumously.

Marine Lance Corporal Ian Jenson of Howards Grove, was on a mission to rescue wounded soldiers in November of 2004 when he was shot in the neck. The bullet paralyzed Jenson's left side and part of his lungs had to be removed. He spent five months in hospitals.

Jenson says he paid a high price for his Purple Heart but he harbors no regrets, recalling that his duty in Iraq helped open six schools that had once been closed.