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6th AMW gets best Christmas present ever -- Battle-wounded Airman returns home, to duty

  • Published
  • By Nick Stubbs
  • Thunderbolt editor
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  For most every servicemember, the thing they desire most is also their biggest fear - that moment when their mettle is tested and they discover whether they have what it takes - whether honor, service to country and bravery are in their character or if they are just talking points.

And so it was that Staff Sgt. Steve Light received his test in Afghanistan March 29, 2009.
On that day, the proud Airman from the 6th Air Mobility Wing's Communications Squadron was manning the gun atop a Humvee on convoy when it crossed paths with a powerful improvised explosive device. When his senses returned, he smelled the burning, his ears were screaming, he saw smoke, he saw his blood. The other three members of his team smelled nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing. They were gone as quickly as the blast.

Sergeant Light remembered them in a ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base Dec. 16 at the Officers Club, as did a roomful of fellow Airmen there to welcome him back after a long and challenging rehabilitation to his injured right leg. They heard his tale of survival, and of his plans to continue an Air Force career, and they saw how happy he is to be home with his wife Kara for the holidays - how happy he is to return to duty.

Sergeant Light's story is one of courage, his positive attitude throughout the ordeal an inspiration. It also is a tale of fate, and reminds us how every step and decision, intersecting paths and unexplained events combine to shape what happens to us.
Sergeant Light wasn't supposed to deploy. When he developed a hernia while training for the deployment, it looked like he wouldn't go after all. But he recovered.
He wasn't supposed to be on the convoy that fateful day - just a month before his tour was to end - but he asked for, and received permission to join it.

He wasn't supposed to be thrown clear of the blast, but the harness designed to keep gunners from being tossed out of Humvees broke.
He perhaps wasn't supposed to survive, bleeding and broken on the side of the road.
The odds were against an experienced nurse riding in the convoy just behind him - but she was.

The unmerciful forces of misfortune were countered by good luck at every turn, and Sergeant Steve Light is still standing, albeit with the help of a cane. If there's anything he's learned, it's that it's not about what life deals you that matters most, but how you deal with life. He was given a second chance, and he isn't wasting it.

His message to fellow Airmen is a simple one: "Stay positive."

"What happened to me I had no control over," he said in a brief interview prior to his reception. "But how you deal with it is something you can control."

Such a close call has been known to change one's attitude, but Sergeant Light said he knew what he was getting into when he joined the Air Force, and his commitment to service, and the sacrifices it demands, remain intact.

"In the grand scheme of things, this is just a bump in the road," he said.
It's a perspective reinforced by the many servicemembers he encountered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, many of whom suffered devastating injuries.

"We had a talk in the hospital and we decided we can be miserable about life and let it get the best of us, but we decided to stay positive instead," said Kara Light, her husband nodding. "If we let it affect us negatively, it would be like he won, like the bomber got what he wanted."

Instead, from an explosion a new resolve was born, and even more determination and conviction. Sgt. Light passed his test, and he isn't quitting.

"I saw how much good we were doing over there for the people," said Sergeant Light. "Seeing how much it means to them makes it all worth it."

Sergeant Light resumed work as a client services technician this week, easing back into the stream of things working half days.

He was the man of the hour this day, the recipient of hugs, sturdy handshakes and much gratitude. He said he is grateful for the support, but that he is more grateful "for all my brothers and sisters out there serving, especially those who gave everything."