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Injured Soldier Given A Hero's Welcome

Tribune photo by KATHY MOORE

Mercedes Pequeno, left, looks on as her aunt, Elizabeth Bagley, gives Pequeno's father, Jose, a kiss after bringing him into the house he will be living in. Jose Pequeno was critically injured in Iraq during an explosion and lost half of his brain. He was discharged from the James A Haley Veterans Hospital on Friday.

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By LINDSAY PETERSON

lpeterson@tampatrib.com

Published: December 20, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - The roar of the motorcycle engines signaled National Guard Sgt. Jose Pequeno's arrival Friday.

Members of at least five veterans motorcycle clubs assembled to welcome the soldier home, nearly three years after a grenade explosion destroyed nearly half of his brain during an ambush in Ramadi, Iraq.

They were among at least 150 people who gathered at the home that his mother and sister worked to find and adapt for Pequeno, who is one of the most traumatically wounded soldiers from the war.

"I don't know what to say," said Pequeno's mother Nelida Bagley, as Jose was wheeled out of the van in front of the five-bedroom house. "It's been 33 months of us working hard to make this happen."

Pequeno and his family are from New Hampshire. He traveled from Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland to three different hospitals for his long, rocky recuperation before moving permanently to Tampa's James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in June.

Bagley said he is home largely because of Terry Hanson, the man who owns the house and is helping Bagley and her daughter buy it. Also, the American Legion and the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund helped pay for the extensive renovations.

Bagley said the Semper Fi Fund was with her from the start. "When I didn't have food and a place to stay, they helped me." Also, Army Maj. Gen. Michael Diamond, of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base provided steady support.

The Tampa VA went "above and beyond," she said. They "covered every detail to make this possible."

But Pequeno's sister, Elizabeth, said one person worked harder than anyone else: Jose.

His 13-year-old daughter, Mercedes, was flown in from Maine for the event.

"It's best for me to be here so he can see I love him," she said

Read about Jose Pequeno's struggle in Sunday's Tampa Tribune and watch a multimedia report at TBO.com.

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