“It puts life into perspective when you almost die—when you really almost die, not just your cell phone is out of service or something. When I walked again, it was the best feeling ever.”
Lance Cpl. Evan Reichenthal, 20, of Princeton, NJ, who had dreamed of being a Marine since the seventh grade. He enlisted in July 2009 and by December 2010, he was in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, with 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines.
On Jan. 5, 2011, on patrol with his 12-man squad in Marjah, Reichenthal was thrown in the air when an improvised bomb exploded under his feet.  (Read Cpl. Reichenthal’s story here.)