Marine from N. Merrick gets hero's welcome

Until Friday, much hadn't gone well for Cpl. Kevin Vaughan, whose legs were mangled last fall in a roadway blast in Afghanistan.

Doctors fought for months to save the Marine's damaged limbs but concluded in December that they had no choice. They had to amputate his left leg below the knee.

But when Vaughan stepped from a car Friday night, using his new prosthetic limb, he couldn't stop smiling.

Hundreds of his neighbors -- many waving flags and hoisting placards -- lined the streets near his North Merrick home to give the Mepham High School graduate a hero's welcome.

The car which bore him from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., was escorted the final blocks by a flag-bearing Marine guard as the sound of bagpipes filled the air.

"I'm very overwhelmed," Vaughan said, moments after giving his mother, Pat, a tearful embrace. "I love you all. This is the greatest day ever."

Vaughan, 22, of the Third Batallion, 6th Marine Regiment, had been serving his second combat deployment in Afghanistan when an armored vehicle he had been riding in was rocked by a remotely detonated explosive device, wounding all five Marines on board.

The impact crushed Vaughan below the waist. His right leg had to be reconstructed with rods and screws.

Roadside bombs have inflicted grievous injuries on U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of Jan. 18, 1,525 had lost all or part of at least one limb to war-related amputations since President George W. Bush first sent combat troops to the region in 2001.

Their rehabilitation can involve as much as two years or more of surgeries and physical therapy at military hospitals, followed by retirement from the armed services and ongoing treatments. Costs for medical services and prosthetic devices typically reach into the millions per patient.

Vaughan is scheduled to resume his residency as a patient at Walter Reed after his four-week home visit. His father, Jim, said Vaughan's treatment is scheduled to last at least until November.

"He has his ups and downs, but is responding to his therapy," his father said.

Vaughan's sacrifice has clearly struck a chord in North Merrick.

On Friday, flags fluttered from tree lawns and porch steps. Red, white and blue ribbons adorned the sycamore trees that line streets leading to the Vaughan home.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray handed the corporal a ceremonial key to the town.

"We're a very tight-knit community," said Mario Filagrossi, an officer with the area's Wenshaw Park Civic Association, which helped organize the homecoming. "And when we heard he was coming, this is what evolved."