Back, but not at home

The parents of Eric Valdepenas, one of "New England's Own" killed in Iraq, visited his grave in East Providence, R.I.


Back, but not at home
By Charles M. Sennott
Globe Staff / November 11, 2007

FORT DEVENS - Every step mattered.

Corporal Patrick Murray focused hard on his balance and gait as he approached the commanding officers of his Marine battalion one hot Sunday in July. Murray was due for a medal honoring his exemplary courage and spirit in the months since he and his gathered comrades returned from war. And he was determined not to let on how he'd earned it.

As he snapped to attention, there wasn't a hint that Murray was missing his right leg, lost, above the knee, to a roadside bomb blast in Fallujah, Iraq. Or of the long, grueling months of surgeries and physical therapy. Or the ingenious computerized titanium leg on which he had learned again to walk.

Only after Lieutenant Colonel Brian Sulc pinned the Naval Achievement Medal on his uniform next to the Purple Heart did Murray stumble.

As he saluted and pivoted, the artificial limb inside his camouflage pant leg buckled, and he began to fall. His fellow Marines pressed forward to assist; Sulc and two other commanders helped Murray as he righted himself.

It was, they reflected afterward, a quietly symbolic moment. The pride, the fragility, the support, the grit - the values of the unit were all right there. These Marines have always been there for one another. And in this hard year home, especially, they have had to be.

Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/11/11/back_but_not_at_home/