‘Good and faithful soldier, your job is not yet finished’

Standing proudly at attention inside a hangar at the Grand Ledge Army Aviation Support Facility, his teary-eyed family seated nearby, Sgt. Joseph Suchowolec, 37, of the Michigan National Guard waited with great anticipation as he was approached by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Upon hearing his name called, Joseph stepped forward, and after greeting him with a salute, Whitmer presented the Greenville resident with the nation’s oldest military award — the Purple Heart — during the Jan. 23 ceremony.