02 September 2011

For those I love...


U.S. Army Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry is tended to by medics after being wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device on June 15 in Afghanistan in this picture taken by a Stars and Stripes photographer. Photo courtesy of the Hockenberry family to the Marietta Times.


On August 10, PFC Kyle Hockenberry was awarded the Purple Heart at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas.

[Hockenberry's uncle Jim] Hall and his wife were by their nephew's side for the ceremony, along with Hockenberry's parents, brother, three of his cousins and more than 20 soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division's headquarters in Fort Riley, Kan. Everyone in the room wore protective coverings to prevent infection and Hall said 20 to 30 more Army members were outside the room.

Afterward, Hall said, the family was approached by a photographer with the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes, who shared with them a picture taken shortly after the explosion that wounded Hockenberry.
...

"It was just as emotional as the ceremony itself," Hall said of seeing the picture.

Hockenberry has been recovering at BAMC since being critically wounded in an improvised explosive device blast on June 15 in Afghanistan. Both legs above the knee and his left arm above the elbow have been amputated.

More at the Marietta Times.

Thanks to Matt at Blackfive for the link.

Update, December 30, 2011: "I'd do it all over again." He looks great!

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