COURTESY PHOTO BY SPC. ZHU QI
Lt. Col. Mark Dewhurst, commander of the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry, speaks to the Alpha Gators after presenting Spc. Juan Hernandez with a Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal earned in Kirkuk, Iraq.

Wounded comrade
gets 2 medals

Editor's Note: 1st Sgt. Robert Jennings, a 20-year Army veteran, wrote a Sunday column for the Star-Bulletin while deployed in Iraq over the last year with Alpha Company of the 25th Infantry Division (Light). His column ended when his unit returned to Schofield Barracks in February. But events last week prompted an update.

Well, the last of the Alpha Company Gators has come back home. We were all treated to a surprise Monday when Spc. Juan Hernandez showed up in the company area here at Schofield.

Some folks may remember Hernandez. He, along with Spc. Charles Woolwine, Spc. Joseph Salinas and Pfc. Cory Ferguson were evacuated from Kirkuk, Iraq, on May 2, 2004, after sustaining serious injuries from a roadside bomb. This is the same day Staff Sgt. Todd Nunes lost his life in the firefight that followed the explosion.

It's been over a year since we have seen this young warrior.

After he received extensive abdominal injuries, he was evacuated to Walter Reed Medical Center, then transferred to William Beaumont Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, where he has spent the last 10 months rehabilitating. He was transferred to William Beaumont because he is originally from Tatum, N.M., about four hours north of El Paso.

Once a seriously injured soldier becomes stable enough, the Army will transfer him or her as close to home as possible for rehabilitation.

Hernandez has been greeted with a lot of hugs and handshakes from fellow soldiers across the battalion this week. I asked him how it felt to be back. With a huge smile, he said, "I miss you guys. I feel like I'm back in the real Army with my family again."

He told me that he had not been formally presented a Purple Heart. When this was mentioned to the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Mark Dewhurst, it was immediately made a priority.

» 9 a.m. Thursday: Dewhurst gave the command, "Publish the Orders." Everyone within earshot came to the position of attention as the declaration was read and a Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal were pinned on Hernandez's chest.

As I watched the small ceremony conclude, I felt quite emotional. All of my soldiers have now returned and we can now begin the next chapter of our lives with our experiences from Iraq complete and just a vivid memory.

Hernandez will return to El Paso to finish his rehabilitation, and then he will be medically discharged. However, this week he was home; and will always be a Gator.

God Bless and Aloha.

1st Sgt. Robert Jennings was deployed in Iraq with 4,000 25 Infantry Division (Light) soldiers from Schofield Barracks. He wrote a Sunday column for the Star-Bulletin that began Feb. 1, 2004 and ended a year later. Jennings, a 20-year Army veteran, has been assigned to Fort Riley, Kan., Fort Campbell, Ky., Fort Lewis, Wash., and Camp Casey in South Korea. He is now on his second tour at Schofield Barracks. He has been deployed to Panama, Japan, Germany, Egypt and Thailand. As the first sergeant of Alpha Company, Jennings is in charge of 135 soldiers.

See the Columnists section
for Jennings' earlier dispatches.

Alpha Company Gators
25th Infantry Division

See also: In the Military

Wounded comrade gets 2 medals

Wounded comrade
gets 2 medals