Two Local Marines Receive Purple Heart

"I feel like every other sergeant in my unit would have done kept on truckin', kept on goin' no matter how many IEDs we hit," said Sergeant Amos Nugent.

Nugent was wounded while traveling with his convoy in southern Afghanistan when his unit was hit by an IED.

"I feel like I've joined a second brotherhood of men who've gone before me and served our country," Nugent said. "Very Proud."

He would take another IED hit before finally returning home to Lubbock.

"As long as we had all our fingers and toes, we would have kept on walkin'," Nugent added with a smile.

Lance Corporal Rene Alvarez also hit an IED one December on his wife's birthday.

He recalled the sound of her voice when he told her the news.

"She started freaking out," Alvarez said. "'What's wrong?' I'm like, 'I'm alright. I got bad news.' 'What!?' 'I got hit by an IED.' 'Are you ok!?' 'Yes, I'm ok.'"

Joseph Bennett, Chief Warrant Officer at the Army Reserve commended the marines for their valiance and bravery.

"It's a testament to them and their hard work and their sacrifice that they had to go out there and suffer the things they had to go through," Bennett said.

"Words can't describe it," Nugent said. "8 years I've served and I wouldn't change any of it."

Sergeant Nugent manages a business here in Lubbock and is pursuing a degree at Texas Tech.

Lance Corporal Alvarez plans to stay with the Marines.