Cpl. Michael Nicholson returns to huge Tampa welcome

Wounded warrior Cpl. Michael Nicholson returns to huge Tampa welcome

By Stephanie Wang, Times Staff Writer
Monday, February 20, 2012

A voice shouted through a crowd of hundreds.

"Here he comes!"

And a roar of cheers ripped through Tampa International Airport on Sunday afternoon, a building wave of applause for a young Tampa man in uniform.

Everyone wanted to shake his hand. Everyone wanted to hug him. This homecoming, they said, was an answer to their prayers.

Marine Cpl. Michael Nicholson, 22, rolled his wheelchair down the aisle. He wore three prosthetics under his uniform, but when people thanked him, they looked him in his eyes.

Serving in Afghanistan last July, Nicholson lost both legs and part of his left arm in a blast from a hidden explosive. He has undergone 23 surgeries, recovering at a naval hospital in Bethesda, Md.

Nicholson arrived Sunday in Tampa for the first time since being wounded, flying in with his family for a month-long leave from therapy.

At the airport, strangers lingered as long as they could before their flights, curious about the color guard and bagpipes. Friends and supporters, including the Marine Corps League, carried banners and waved flags.

"He needs to know what he did was worth it," said Leanne Bivens, 19, a freshman in the University of South Florida's Navy ROTC program.

Valrico resident and Air Force reservist Travis Lemon brought along his daughters, ages 3 and 4.

"These guys need to see what a real hero is," he said, "because we watch a lot of Disney."
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At a reception in the pavilion of Christ the King Catholic Church in South Tampa, fellow Marines in dress blues surrounded the car again. Nicholson soon reappeared in his own dress uniform, decorated with a Purple Heart.
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"I want to thank everybody here," he said. "You guys have been with me since the start ... You guys are family."

As he paused, the crowd bolstered him with shouts of "God bless you!" and the Marines' "Oorah!"

"Y'all have done so much," Nicholson continued, "and I just ask you to do one more thing for me: Keep praying for the guys over in Afghanistan right now."

He stayed on stage as hundreds lined up to greet him. They told him they were proud of him, showering him with gifts of flags, posters, mementos and even Gasparilla beads.

When it was time to leave, they still crowded around him.

Nicholson rolled his wheelchair back to the car, back behind the line of Marines.

He rode a couple of blocks away to a quiet flag-lined street, and then he was finally home.

Read this wonderful story in full at the link, and make sure to check out the photo gallery with more pictures like the one below.

John Residence of Clearwater, left, gives a vial of volcanic ash from Iwo Jima to Cpl. Mike Nicholson, a fellow Marine, during Nicholson’s homecoming Sunday at Tampa International Airport. Photo: James Borchuck, Tampa Bay Times.