Wounded soldier has a bittersweet reunion

Wounded soldier has a bittersweet reunion
February 22, 2005
By Peter Hirschfeld Times Argus Staff

SOUTH BURLINGTON – Army Spc. Thomas Brooks limped with a grin through the throng of returning Guardsmen Monday morning.

The baby-faced 21-year-old St. Albans native just learned to walk again three weeks ago, nine months after an insurgent-fired mortar explosion shattered his left leg. Fellow Guard members, who hadn't seen Brooks since he was taken blood-soaked from a U.S. base outside Baghdad in May, laughed and marveled as he showed off his prosthetic limb.

"It's awesome, seeing the looks on their faces with me walking," Brooks says. "The last time I saw them I was being carried away on a stretcher. It's amazing to see them all again."