Wounded NC soldier back on job

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Tags:

local/state, alina machado

LOUISBURG, N.C. (WTVD) -- It was just days ago that a suicide bomber in Afghanistan wounded Spc. Jordan Hamilton.

The Louisburg native is already back at work, and his mother hopes his story serves as a reminder to the sacrifices soldiers are making every day.

Hamilton is part of the 340th PSY-OP company based at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Garner.

Sunday, Hamilton was caught in the middle of a suicide bomb attack.

"[He] had a lot of shrapnel injury, one that was quite serious to his leg that required a tourniquet, and a shrapnel to his neck, and a bullet grazed his arm," his mother, Sandra Brooks said.

The wounds sent Hamilton to the hospital, but because his injuries were not life-threatening, he was released back to duty.

Brooks told ABC11 she is grateful to an Afghan soldier who was manning a tower and may have helped save her son's life.

"This Afghan soldier, this one individual, probably gave me my son," Brooks said. "He was very instrumental in making it possible for them to get to a place of safety."

Hamilton has been in Afghanistan since two days after Christmas, and is expected to return by the end of the year. Until then, Brooks said she relies on her faith and prayers to get her through.

"It's all about God and all about understanding that none of us have tomorrow, not Jordan, my son, not you, not me," Brooks said.