Staff Sgt. Pablo Barrios, an intelligence Marine with Marine
All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, greets his daughter after returning
from a deployment at the Savannah International Airport, Tuesday, April 13,
2010.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Courtney C. White |
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION
BEAUFORT, SC (4/16/2010) A real-life hero got
a once-in-a-lifetime surprise at Savannah
International Airport Tuesday afternoon when he
reached the foyer to find himself face-to-face
with a brass quartet, his brothers-in-arms and
most important, his wife and daughters.
Staff Sgt. Pablo Barrios, an intelligence Marine
with Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron
533, returned home from an approximate year long
deployment as an individual augment with an
overwatch training brigade operating in Iraq.
Barrios suffered injuries when struck by a
directional improvised explosive device while
manning a machine gun turret in Basra, Iraq,
Feb. 24. The explosion damaged his lungs,
kidneys and both arms. After six weeks of
surgery and rehabilitation at the National Naval
Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., Barrios finally
headed home.
With a good grip on his daughter, Barrios
expressed that he was eager to return home to
his family, friends and fellow Marines. “Without
their motivation and support, I don't know how I
would have made it through.”
Barrios' wife received a phone call detailing
her husband's injuries, February 25. Upon his
return stateside, Monique Barrios packed up
their two daughters and rushed to her husband's
side.
Monique explained that although the news she
received |