'I'm not a hero'
BY RUBÉN ROSARIO
Pioneer Press
JOE ROSSI/Pioneer Press and courtesy of the Kriesel family
(Above) John Kriesel, center, is pictured with fellow Minnesota National Guard members Bryan McDonough, left, and Corey Rystad. McDonough and Rystad died in the Dec. 2 bomb blast that injured Kriesel. The snapshot was taken just hours before the explosion. (Below)In Washington: Minnesota National Guard Sgt. John Kriesel describes looking down after a Dec. 2 bomb blast in Iraq and realizing he had lost his right leg below the knee and his left above it.

Minnesota National Guard Sgt. John Kriesel humbly shakes off the compliment conferred on him by President Bush. But some might beg to differ with the Cottage Grove soldier, who lost both legs as well as his two closest friends in a roadside bomb blast last month in Iraq.
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John Kriesel -left ak, right bk