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A local soldier returned home this week after being critically wounded in Afghanistan earlier this fall, and he will be honored Wednesday in a Veteran’s Day ceremony in West Plains. KSMU’s Jennifer Moore reports.
Maj. Andy Inglasbe has served nearly 30 years in the Missouri National Guard and Army Reserves. Those from West Plains, including myself, know him for his quiet humility, his sense of humor and his sense of duty.
He retired in 2004, but felt a longing to serve overseas, so he came out of retirement and was soon deployed.
He nearly died in September after being shot in Afghanistan’s Patika province near the border of Pakistan.
He joined me by phone to talk about his experience.He said he worked as a liaison between the Army and Afghani civilians, working on projects that would benefit the local population.
He was out on foot patrol one morning in September when the unit he was with came under fire while in an open field. Ingalsbe was shot in the back, but says it felt like he was shot in the leg, because the bullet had injured a nerve near his spine.
The last thing he remembers about being overseas was being loaded into a helicopter. He was treated in Afghanistan and Germany before being flown to Washington, D.C. for further treatment.
His spine was injured, and he had his right kidney and part of his colon removed. He will likely need further medical treatment on his neck.
Ingasbe, 54, retired in 2004 after nearly three decades of military service, but says he felt he had not yet “done his part," so he volunteered to go overseas. He served in Iraq before serving in Afghanistan.
He says now he will retire for good, and step into civilian life. He will be awarded the Purple Heart Wednesday in West Plains at a special Veteran’s Day ceremony.
While in the hospital in Washington, D.C., he says he found the Purple Heart in a bag along with his wedding ring. He was told by others that the military only delivers the Purple Heart that way when it believes the injured soldier will not survive his or her injuries.
He says what he went through was “minor” compared to the soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center who are missing arms and legs, and who are trying to cope with severe burns.
Ingaslbe says part of him wishes he could go back and finish the job he began, but the military has already sent a replacement and tells him that his only job now is to recover.
He says he greatly appreciates the support from the community: on part of his drive home from the airport in Springfield, he was escorted by over 100 motorcycle riders, well-wishers in Springfield and Mountain Grove, and nearly nine miles of townspeople lining the road in West Plains with signs and balloons to welcome him home.
For KSMU News, I’m Jennifer Moore.