Purple Heart Recipient Receives Homecoming
Lance Corporal Vigil Suffered Shrapnel Wounds
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A San Jose Marine has returned from Iraq and his family threw him a big welcome home party Sunday.
Lance Corporal Leonard Vigil, a Purple Heart recipient, said he’s glad to be home and feels fortunate to have made back it with just shrapnel wounds, considering some of his friends did not make it back alive.
Vigil said while he thinks the United States will finish the job in in Iraq, troops are still constantly under attack by insurgents.
“It’s real hard to explain unless you’re actually there, because this thing happens on a day-to-day basis,” Vigil said. “People don’t realize it — they hear it on the news, but when it actually happens (to you), it’s huge.”
Vigil said the Marine Corps is doing an excellent job helping Marines deal with post traumatic stress.
