Marty Brownlee in Afghanistan
Marty Brownlee and his wife Autumn
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A 48th Brigade soldier injured in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan has finally come home.
It has been about 15 days since the bombing, which injured four other members of the 48th.
37-year-old Staff Sergeant Marty Brownlee made it to his Monticello home Thursday evening.
Brownlee has received a Purple Heart for his injuries.
Since the attack, he the father of five has had at least three surgeries to remove shrapnel from his foot and legs.
It's an honor he says he worked to avoid, even though the danger was always around.
"We were going to get attacked and we were waiting on it for three months," he said.
Brownlee says he and his roommate had popped in a movie and were preparing to wind down for the night when the attack happened.
"I see a piece of metal sticking out of my foot. I tried to pull it out, I couldn't. It hurt like crazy when I did. I figured it was in the bone and I pulled my boots on anyway," said Brownlee describing when he first noticed one of his injuries. He then headed out to get a count of his soldiers.
He says dogs helped slow down the attack and kept the bomber from getting inside the living area.
"I wasn't really sure what had happened because it was borderline chaos initially. People running around and when I stepped out, of course in my room itself, a lot of blood and body parts, and I didn't know who it belonged to," said Brownlee.
"It's very scary, luckily he was able to call me probably three or four hours after it happened so I was able to hear his voice," said his wife, Autumn Brownlee.
Brownlee brought home several military coins he received during his time in the hospital, and while he says it's good to be home with family, he's still thinking of the friends he left overseas.
"I love being home. I still got a part of me that's still over there with my guys, and I feel guilty about leaving, but that's natural," Brownlee said.
Now that he's home, he's focusing on the future.
"I'm just ready to get healed, I got softball to coach and I got things to do," he said.
Brownless says this was his third deployment. He's also served in Bosnia and Iraq.
The city of Monticello has planned a celebration for Brownlee Saturday at 2 p.m.
They will hold a ceremony on the town square.