"I don't even remember getting hit. I went and sat down at one of the tables, and next thing I knew I woke up with a hole in my head and I couldn't walk on my foot," he said, adding witnesses told him one of the men said "What kind of f--king hero are you now?" as they were being pulled off of him.

"We weren't just sitting in a camp. We're getting shot at. People are dying. Buddies of mine I've seen get blown up. They really don't have any clue and they don't know how lucky they have it here in Canada."

According to the Canadian Forces, [Collin Fitzgerald] was recognized "for outstanding selfless and valiant actions" carried out on May 24, during an ongoing enemy ambush "involving intense, accurate enemy fire."