SAN ANTONIO – On Sept. 11, 2011, 19-year-old PFClass Kerry Cain was eating with his company in Afghanistan when a truck was detonated 50 feet away.
"I was blown through the wall. I don't know what all happened after that, but I hit a rock, shattered my skull. My skull went into my brain," he said.
Cain was put into a medically induced coma and was given a year to live.
However, three days later he suddenly woke up. He couldn't walk, talk or read. He wound up at Brooke Army Medical Center.
He is now talking, reading and able to walk with the assistance of a walker.
On Tuesday morning, Cain was honored in a Purple Heart Ceremony, along with three other young men, who were also wounded while serving in Afghanistan.
SPC Guillermo Rojas, SPC Anthony Whitney and PFClass, Miguel Castellanos were also honored.
Major Gen. Simeon G. Trombitas, Commanding General, US Army South, handed the men their awards.
"They have given of their blood, their bodies, to defend our nation," he said during the ceremony.
The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration in the world. It was first awarded as a badge of merit by George Washington.
These days, the Purple Heart is only awarded members of the Armed Forces that are wounded by the hands of the enemy.
It comes at a big price to soldiers and their families.
"It's emotional roller coaster from the time you get the phone call until you get to see the recovery," Sheila Culp, Cain's mother, said.
Still, Given the choice to serve our country again, Cain said he wouldn't change a thing.
"As soon as I can go back, I'm going back," he said.