{"id":78682,"date":"2025-11-07T12:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T19:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=78682"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:48:10","slug":"special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/","title":{"rendered":"First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in ‘special operations’ as a physician assistant"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Michael
Michael Sciortino, a physician assistant at UCHealth Orthopedic Center – Grandview, served 24 years in the military. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michael Sciortino knows special operations.<\/p>\n

A month after the mayhem of Sept. 11, 2001, Sciortino, an Air Force veteran who is now a physician assistant at UCHealth, found himself in a battle in Afghanistan that is chronicled in books and movies.<\/p>\n

Sciortino has the distinction of being the first U.S. airman to receive the Purple Heart in Afghanistan for injuries sustained when a 2,000-pound bomb dropped 40 feet away from him and launched him 40 feet in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cI basically have a badge that says I got lucky,\u2019\u2019 said Sciortino, who works alongside Dr. Jordan Schaeffer<\/a>, an orthopedic surgeon who does total knee and hip replacements at UCHealth Orthopedic Center – Grandview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sciortino comes from a long line of family members who have served. As Veterans Day approaches, he thinks of all the service members who have valiantly served their country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is just reflecting back,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cI have always been in awe of all the people before me. You hear their stories, and you just want to be part of that group of people who went above and beyond.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Sciortino is the first U.S. Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan. He’s now a physician assistant at UCHealth. Photo: Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sciortino\u2019s story is a pretty good one, too. At 18, he left Oxford, Connecticut, then a one-stoplight town with 5,000 people to join the Air Force in February 1994. He started as a medical technician and worked in that field in the ICU at a hospital. There, he encountered a couple of combat controllers, guys who told Sciortino about all the cool things they did like jumping out of airplanes, scuba diving and motorcycle riding. They shot weapons and learned how to control air traffic and call in strikes.<\/p>\n

Sciortino was hooked. He transitioned from his job as a medical technician to special operations. He completed a rigorous two-year training course and graduated from combat control in 2000. A year later, planes hit the twin towers, killing nearly 3,000 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were supposed to do some training later that evening \u2013 land navigation training \u2013 but during the day, I got a call, \u2018hey, be at work in three hours.\u2019\u2019\u2019 Later that day, he arrived at Hurlbert Field, Florida, headquarters of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. Leaders told the airmen to get ready to go to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Three weeks later, he and about 30 to 40 people \u2013 all special ops men from the Air Force, Army and Navy \u2013 arrived in Uzbekistan. Three weeks later, they attached to a renowned Afghan warlord \u2013 Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum,<\/a> then the second in command behind Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan. His nickname: \u201cThe butcher.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, warlords ruled everything, and every warlord had their own little piece of the pie that they were working on \u2026 We linked up with Gen. Dostum in efforts to rid the Taliban in specific regions.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Sciortino and the other men began their trek into Afghanistan on horses, a rudimentary means of transportation, but the only one possible. They followed Dostum and the Northern Alliance into Afghanistan, on narrow trails through the mountainous terrain. Sitting on wooden saddles, the men traversed a dangerous path. Any misstep, and they\u2019d plunge 900 to 1,000 feet off a sheer cliff.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou couldn\u2019t take vehicles or helicopters; you had to ride on horseback. So, we are on these little, narrow trails and we are following Gen. Dostum to each town, and our objective was to get to Mazar-i-Sharif, the major northern city of Afghanistan,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Sciortino, the first U.S. Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan, is now a physician assistant at UCHealth. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mazar-i-Sharif had a large runway that allied forces wanted to control. When they did, planes with supplies to replenish friendly forces could easily access Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us that arrived in Afghanistan had never ridden a horse,\u2019\u2019 Sciortino said with a chuckle. \u201cOur team leader grew up on a ranch, and he was a really good horseback rider, but the rest of us \u2026 we didn\u2019t have any horseback riding experience.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The contingent of 36 U.S. forces each carried a full combat load: 310 rounds of 5.56, grenades, a grenade launcher, 9 mm pistol, and food \u2013 MRE\u2019s and water.<\/p>\n

Years later, in the orthopedic practice where he works, Sciortino reflected on the \u2018how did I get here?\u2019 moment with light-hearted humor: \u201cGood thing I was young and didn\u2019t have the wherewithal to know about how bad things could be.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Sciortino\u2019s horse soldier team, accompanied by the Northern Alliance troops from Afghanistan, stopped in little towns, freed them from the Taliban, and continued along their way to Mazar-i-Sharif.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would ride on horseback, get to a town, free it from Taliban. We were on the mountaintops and then once that town was transitioned to Northern Alliance, we would ride to the next town.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

When allied forces dropped bombs on Taliban-occupied towns, the Taliban would rush out of the towns. On the outskirts of town, hundreds of men on horseback from the Northern Alliance waited. They carried swords and old muskets and fierce battles between the northern Alliance and Taliban seemed almost Biblical in nature.<\/p>\n

Outside Mazar-i-Sharif, Sciortino\u2019s group and high-level U.S. military brass set up in an old Turkish schoolhouse. At the time, word traveled like lightning that the Americans were near, and that they had sophisticated weapons, airplanes and bombs.<\/p>\n

The Taliban began to flee Mazar-i-Sharif and then, without explanation, many of them returned to attack Mazar-i-Sharif.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a small group of us at Mazar-i-Sharif, so now we\u2019ve got this big counterattack. We get this report of 600 hardened al-Qaida members. We\u2019ve got this big number of forces that are coming back toward us.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo our team leader is Maj. Mitchell \u2026 and he\u2019s like \u2018hey, we got to meet these guys up.\u2019 So, Gen Dostum is still with us, so we go through this open field, and we\u2019re on the north side of this road and there\u2019s like 600 Taliban and al-Qaida guys across from us in vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if you remember those old pictures, but you\u2019ve got Toyota Tacomas and Nissan Frontiers and about six Afghanis in the back with rocket propelled grenades hanging off. That\u2019s exactly what we were staring at. So, we\u2019re like \u2018oh man, so how\u2019s this going to go down?\u2019\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Sciortino scampered up to a ridge line and called back to the Air Force. \u201c\u2019Hey, we need some show of force.\u2019 So the Air Force sent us two B-52s and they did giant halos over the air. We thought, if this turns into something bad, we\u2019ve got bombs that we can drop on them.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The show of force worked, and the Taliban leader agreed to meet with Gen. Dostum.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, after a bunch of garbling and talking back and forth, they all somehow surrendered,\u2019\u2019 Sciortino recalled of the Taliban.<\/p>\n

Allied forces rounded up their prisoners; they bound their arms and loaded them on wagons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was customary back then, that if you show respect for an Afghani, you don\u2019t search them,\u2019\u2019 Sciortino said.<\/p>\n

The prisoners were taken to Qala-I-Jangi, a giant mud-and-brick fort about five miles away. They were placed in the southern half of the fort.<\/p>\n

Many prisoners gathered in the basement of a little pink schoolhouse that was inside the fort. The Northern Alliance kept watch over the prisoners from the perch of 40-foot walls that made up the exterior of the fort.<\/p>\n

A CIA agent, Mike Spann, made his way into the southern half of the fort to question prisoners and gather intel. At the time, an American who became widely known as Johnny Taliban was one of the men held there.<\/p>\n

An Afghan prisoner who was in the basement of the pink schoolhouse pulled the pin on a grenade, blowing himself up to cause commotion. Taliban poured out from the basement, and they beat Spann to death, the first American to die in the war in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were back at the Turkish schoolhouse, and we heard fire going on and we were like, \u2018holy cow, there\u2019s a war going on.\u2019 So, we get our guys, and we head to the fort, and we had to get to the north side, so we walk up on these walls and we\u2019re seeing all of these gunshots and gunfire going on, the prisoners are shooting everybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019m at the fort, I\u2019m on the radio, I\u2019m calling back to our command: \u2018We\u2019re going to need some planes here to squash this.\u2019 Little did we know, but there was an ammo depot on the other side of the fort, so now we have about 400 guys that are armed to the teeth. They are shooting everybody \u2026 it ended up being a pretty big battle.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Sciortino called for air support.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we had two fast movers (F-14s) come in, two fighter jets come in and they released a bomb and instead of following the coordinates to the enemy site, the bomb came to our site.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s where I get my Purple Heart.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Sciortino and four green berets from the Army were injured in the Taliban uprising, which lasted from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, 2001. Sciortino suffered ruptured eardrums, facial burns and bumps and bruises.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fared out very well. I was really lucky, really lucky,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cMy time in Afghanistan was over at that point.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

A movie \u2013 12 Strong \u2013 was made and is available on Amazon Prime. Sciortino said the movie should have been called 36 Strong, since that\u2019s how many made their way from Uzbekistan on horses. Two books \u2013 Horse Soldiers and First Casualty \u2013 also have been written about the first special operations battle in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Sciortino was flown to Turkey, then Germany and back to the U.S. Back on home soil, he would pursue education through the military to become a physician assistant. In all, he spent more than 24 years in the Air Force. A conference room at the Regional Support Center is named in his honor.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Sciortino took a job at UCHealth with Dr. Schaeffer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will see a variety of patient to include new patients, pre-op and post-op visits. Our primary focus is degenerative conditions of the hips and knees. During a clinic visit we will get an overall history of the condition, review imaging results, labs, etc., and depending on what we find, we will discuss all treatments to include surgery. When I\u2019m not in the clinic, I\u2019m in the operating room with Dr. Schaeffer, assisting in total hip or total knee replacement operations.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Working in medicine, he says, is deeply satisfying.<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Sciortino in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Michael Sciortino.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs far as working in joint reconstruction, knowing that you are restoring a patient\u2019s function in life is rewarding. We have folks who come in and say, \u2018I was able to get back to golfing, hiking, taking a trip to see my family member without worrying about how much pain I am going to be in.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear those stories. So, after surgery, whether it\u2019s weeks or months later, they always fill us in and we\u2019re always happy to hear how they\u2019re doing.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

On occasion, Sciortino has the opportunity to share war stories with patients who have served in the Armed Forces. With five major military bases in the Colorado Springs area, many of the patients he talks to have terrific stories to tell.<\/p>\n

When Sciortino shares his story, he speaks to his fellow veterans as if it were all just another day in the saddle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Sciortino knows special operations. A month after the mayhem of Sept. 11, 2001, Sciortino, an Air Force veteran who is now a physician assistant at UCHealth, found himself in a battle in Afghanistan that is chronicled in books and movies. Sciortino has the distinction of being the first U.S. airman to receive the Purple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":86885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[67,3063,21,1898],"class_list":["post-78682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-orthopedic-care","tag-orthopedic-joint-replacement-preservation","tag-southern-colorado","tag-veterans"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpecial Ops in Afghanistan: A Purple Heart story - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first US Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan works at UCHealth. Michael Sciortino assists patients undergoing joint surgeries.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in 'special operations' as a physician assistant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first US Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan works at UCHealth. Michael Sciortino assists patients undergoing joint surgeries.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T19:32:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-13T18:48:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f989ee92cb6da7cfb7f697db1c6771b3\"},\"headline\":\"First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in ‘special operations’ as a physician assistant\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T19:32:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-13T18:48:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/\"},\"wordCount\":2018,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Orthopedic care\",\"Orthopedic joint replacement & preservation\",\"Southern Colorado\",\"Veterans\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/\",\"name\":\"Special Ops in Afghanistan: A Purple Heart story - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T19:32:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-13T18:48:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"The first US Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan works at UCHealth. Michael Sciortino assists patients undergoing joint surgeries.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":501,\"caption\":\"UCHealth Today - First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in 'special operations' as a physician assistant\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in ‘special operations’ as a physician assistant\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"name\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"description\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UCHealth\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"UCHealth\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f989ee92cb6da7cfb7f697db1c6771b3\",\"name\":\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcbc519a86e2e2bbb057b69be9251292a18359ac42f269269b20ff261f26358b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcbc519a86e2e2bbb057b69be9251292a18359ac42f269269b20ff261f26358b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcbc519a86e2e2bbb057b69be9251292a18359ac42f269269b20ff261f26358b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\"},\"description\":\"Erin Emery was a long-time writer and editor UCHealth Today. She also spent years as a reporter for The Denver Post, the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Colorado Springs Sun. Erin was part of a team of Denver Post reporters who won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/eemery\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Special Ops in Afghanistan: A Purple Heart story - UCHealth Today","description":"The first US Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan works at UCHealth. Michael Sciortino assists patients undergoing joint surgeries.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in 'special operations' as a physician assistant","og_description":"The first US Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan works at UCHealth. Michael Sciortino assists patients undergoing joint surgeries.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/","og_site_name":"UCHealth Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","article_published_time":"2025-11-07T19:32:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-13T18:48:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Erin Emery, UCHealth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uchealth","twitter_site":"@uchealth","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Emery, UCHealth","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/"},"author":{"name":"Erin Emery, UCHealth","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f989ee92cb6da7cfb7f697db1c6771b3"},"headline":"First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in ‘special operations’ as a physician assistant","datePublished":"2025-11-07T19:32:18+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-13T18:48:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/"},"wordCount":2018,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp","keywords":["Orthopedic care","Orthopedic joint replacement & preservation","Southern Colorado","Veterans"],"articleSection":["Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/","name":"Special Ops in Afghanistan: A Purple Heart story - UCHealth Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp","datePublished":"2025-11-07T19:32:18+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-13T18:48:10+00:00","description":"The first US Airman to receive a Purple Heart in Afghanistan works at UCHealth. Michael Sciortino assists patients undergoing joint surgeries.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/11\/13114755\/UCHealth-Today-First-US-airman-to-receive-Purple-Heart-in-Afghanistan-1500x500-1.webp","width":1500,"height":501,"caption":"UCHealth Today - First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in 'special operations' as a physician assistant"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/special-ops-in-afghanistan-a-purple-heart-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First US airman to receive Purple Heart in Afghanistan now excels in ‘special operations’ as a physician assistant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","name":"UCHealth Today","description":"UCHealth Today","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization","name":"UCHealth","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"UCHealth"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f989ee92cb6da7cfb7f697db1c6771b3","name":"Erin Emery, UCHealth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcbc519a86e2e2bbb057b69be9251292a18359ac42f269269b20ff261f26358b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcbc519a86e2e2bbb057b69be9251292a18359ac42f269269b20ff261f26358b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcbc519a86e2e2bbb057b69be9251292a18359ac42f269269b20ff261f26358b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Emery, UCHealth"},"description":"Erin Emery was a long-time writer and editor UCHealth Today. She also spent years as a reporter for The Denver Post, the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Colorado Springs Sun. Erin was part of a team of Denver Post reporters who won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting.","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/eemery\/"}]}},"coauthors":[{"id":20,"name":"Erin Emery","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/eemery\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78682"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86767,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78682\/revisions\/86767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}