Petaluma Soldier Critically Injured in Afghanistan

As Americans celebrated the country's independence with barbeques and fireworks, 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan the war raged on with little pause.

That day, a Petaluma soldier was severely injured when an improvised explosive device went off while he was on foot patrol with his battalion. 

Thirty-year-old Monte Bernardo, a Staff Sergeant in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, made it out alive, but lost both legs and his left hand in the attack. He is now recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland in the hospital's "wounded warrior" unit.

Bernardo's family, including mom Helena Westlake, who lives in Petaluma, four sisters and brother, have been at his side and say that despite the major injuries to his body, he is in high spirits.

"It’s hard to wrap your mind around something like that happening, but when I saw him, it’s like he never even missed a beat," said his brother Frank Bernardo. "He would give the shirt off his back to help others and is an amazing person and keeps asking about his guys back in Afghanistan. That’s why he joined, he wanted to fight for freedom, so that his daughter would not have to grow up in tyranny." 

The positive attitude will no doubt help Bernardo as he embarks on the long journey toward recovery. Asked how he felt just a week after the explosion, Bernardo reportedly said, “the Taliban can’t phase me, they can try, but here I come rising from the of ashes of their little bomb, three out of four limbs, less than I had and still as strong as ever. Bring it.”

Bernardo has undergone five surgeries, but is recovering extremely well and will soon start physical therapy, his brother said. Last week, Bernardo was awarded the Purple Heart for his valor. Meanwhile, the family has started a fund to help raise money for Bernardo's wife and 11-year-old daughter who live in Petaluma.

Visit montebernardo.org to donate and to receive updates on Monte's condition

"We don’t know what obstacles he’s going to run into in the future, but it will cover anything that the Army or the Veterans' Administration don't cover, like retrofits to his home, additional therapies and to help his family," Frank Bernardo said.

Since the start of combat operations in 2002, 6,497 men and women have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq and more than 48,000 injured, according to the Department of Defense.

Do you know Monte Bernardo? Share your well wishes in the comments below.