U.S. Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) will bestow the Purple Heart to a Modesto veteran during the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Modesto Veterans Community Based Outpatient Clinic at 1 p.m. Friday.

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Joseph D. Jackson, a representative of the United States Navy and Modesto native, will be present to receive a Purple Heart Medal for his sacrifice in Operation Iraqi Freedom where he sustained a brain injury on May 31, 2006, after an IED exploded beneath the engine of his unit’s Humvee.

The Purple Heart pinning ceremony  will include an aircraft fly-over for ceremonial purposes, an open house, and various comments by political, civic and facility leaderships including: Peter Gravett, Secretary of the California Department of Veteran Affairs; Garrad Marsh, Mayor of Modesto; and Charlie Goeken, Mayor of Waterford.

 Former USMC Aviator Vince Nastro will pilot his T-34 Mentor while the honorary co-pilot, Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran and former USMC GySgt Randall Reyes will assist him in the flyover.

The new Modesto Community Based Outpatient Clinic, which is expected to open in a few weeks, is more than double the size of the original clinic and will offer additional services for veterans within the Central San Joaquin Valley.

The clinic is located at 1225 Oakdale Rd., Modesto.