Holyoke Rally Greets Wounded Granby Marine

Holyoke Rally Greets Wounded Granby Marine

HOLYOKE, Mass. — An estimated 500 family, friends, public officials, including the lieutenant governor, fellow Marines, and veteran’s Saturday afternoon cheered at a rally at the former Anne H. McHugh School parking lot ast U.S. Marine Sergeant Joshua J. (Josh) Bouchard was given a hero’s welcome on his return home after suffering life threatening wounds in Afghanistan a year ago.

“I am overwhelmed,” Josh blurted out as he was asked by crews from all three commercial television stations from nearby Springfield how he felt about the rally. He also said it was the continued support of his family and the community that helped him recover from his wounds.

Sgt. Bouchard, 27, lost his left leg and suffered severe back injuries when an IED destroyed his Humvee, killing two of his fellow Marines and wounding him and another Marine in April 2009 during a patrol in Afghanistan. Josh had been recovering at McGuire VA Medical Facility in Richmond, Va., and is on a 30-day convalescent leave allowing him to return home for the first time since his wounding.

Frank Real
Sergeant of Marines
1956-59 Combat Correspondent
Public Affairs, New England Division, Marine Corps League