What a wonderful welcome home there was for MSG John Souza. 4 PGR members plus about 12 members of the Duluth Honor Guard, which John was a member of, lined up on both sides to welcome John home. As John entered the terminal, I had the honor of being the first to shake his hand, hug him and welcome him home. John slowly, on crutches, made his way thru the line thanking us all for being there for him among our thank you's, welcome home's and applause from not just us but everyone in the airport. John hung around to talk to everyone of us and every Honor Guard member went up and shook his hand and hugged him as we followed in their footsteps and did the same. As John was being interviewed by the media, we stood behind him with our flags in his honor. John's wife and son kept thanking us for being there for them. God bless you John and your family for all you have given to this great country of ours, Rest easy and get well soon. You are home. Thank You all. It made me proud to be a member of the Patriot Guard and the Duluth Honor Guard both.

An email from Jessica:

On June 24 2008 my father and others in his Human Terrain team were attending a city council meeting in Sadr City. A member of the Iraqi army or police (not too clear as to which one) planted explosives inside of the room where the meeting was taking place. My father was the only American inside of the meeting room that survived. He suffered three open compound fractures to his left tib/fib (one of the wounds was so large he needed a skin graft), had shrapnel in his backside and hip area, and a few other smaller injuries. He was knocked unconscious from the blast, he's not sure for how long. He was transported from Iraq to Germany so he could be stabilized before being transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. He's not completely sure, but we are guessing he had around 7 surgeries just in the first two weeks of him being injured (he possibly had one in Iraq, a couple in Germany, and then the remaining at WRAMC). He has been at Walter Reed since the first week in July, and my mom has been with him since he's been there, she was his "non-medical assistant" . Because of the injuries to his leg he needed a spacial fixator to assist the bones in growing back properly, and she did his pin care for him. The spacial fixator was just taken off 2/19/09. Because he was unconscious for a period of time they classify that as a traumatic brian injury, which causes him to have severe migraines occasionally. He also suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. The care and physical therapy he has received at Walter Reed has been outstanding. I have been out to visit 4 times, and each time he has improved greatly. He went from not being able to get out of bed to a wheelchair, from a wheelchair to crutches, and crutches to walking with a cane. It still amazes meRespectfully submitted with honor and respect for such a great American Hero - MSG John Souza

Den Padora