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A soldier is back home in Duluth after being wounded in Iraq and spending months at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C.
Master Sgt. John Souza was greeted by the Honor Guard and the Patriot Guard at the Duluth International Airport Tuesday morning.
"There's no place like home," Souza said.
Souza was injured after an I.E.D. exploded in an office he had been working in last June, during his second deployment to Iraq.
"I did lose a fair amount of blood," he said. "I knew I was messed up because when I tried to get up I felt the leg just drop."
Souza's left leg suffered the most damage. The explosion crushed and fractured several bones. He calls himself lucky, considering the other five people in the room did not survive.
"You know those are the true heroes, the ones that never come back," he said.
His wife, Deb, has been at his side at Walter Reed for the past eight months while he under-went physical therapy.
"I'm just so glad he's home and we are just so blessed that he is here," she said.
Now that Souza is well on the road to recovery, he and Deb are awaiting the return of their oldest son Mathew, who served with his dad in Iraq and saw him the morning of the explosion.
"The morning I got injured he just came off patrol," Souza said. "We had breakfast, I said 'hey I'll catch ya tonight'."
Though they didn't catch each other that night, the family now looks forward to celebrating the next home-coming.
"He'll be home soon too," Deb said.
Mathew will be home from Iraq in June.
Souza is not home for good. In two weeks he is going back to Walter Reed for more therapy. Then the Army medical board will determine whether he is fit for duty or if he will have to retire.
To watch the entire interview with Souza click here.
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