For many veterans, keeping their formal uniforms long after they’ve served is important. But for Jose Pequeno, a 51-year-old from Tampa, Florida, his pristine Marine dress blues carried a little more significance.
Pequeno suffered a devastating injury that nearly killed him while serving in Iraq. He survived but was permanently damaged. Last year, he was crestfallen while preparing to attend a military ball and realized he could no longer wear his sparkling uniform.
“He had outgrown it,” his mother, Nellie, told Fox 13 News in Tampa. “Jose just started crying.”
A Kind Gesture
Despite the heartache, Pequeno’s mother dressed him in his Army uniform (he had joined the National Guard after his time in the Marine Corps), and they decided to attend the event. That’s when another marine stepped in to help.
The couple ran into Jerry Shaffer, who had started the Red Star Foundation to prevent veteran suicide. Nellie struck up a conversation with Shaffer.
“She said, ‘Jose gets mad at me when I dress him in his Army uniform, because he wants to wear his Marine uniform,’” Shaffer said. “And I said, ‘Why doesn’t he?’ That’s when she told me he’d outgrown it. So, I immediately looked at her and said, ‘I’m gonna get him a set.’”
A few months later, Pequeno received possibly the most generous surprise of his life. While attending a 5K in a church parking lot in St. Petersburg, Shaffer walked up to his fellow Marine. In his hands, he held the items Pequeno had lost – a new marine uniform, hat, gloves, the whole ensemble.
Overcome with emotion, Pequeno cried again – this time, happy tears – while Nellie teared up as well. A crowd had gathered to see what was happening and erupted into cheers when Shaffer presented Pequeno with the uniform.
“This means so much to him,” Nellie said.
Help from Fellow Soldiers
Shaffer called on his fellow soldiers to help Pequeno. The Marine Corps League Detachment 54, along with the Order of the Purple Heart Chapters in the Tampa area, worked together to make Pequeno’s dream a reality.
As soon as Pequeno arrived home, his nurse dressed him in his full Marine Corps uniform.
“He looks so handsome,” Nellie said. “He’s gone through so much. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Surviving the Horrific Injury
Some may call it a miracle, but somehow Pequeno is still alive.
Serving as a military police officer, Pequeno was on patrol as a member of the National Guard, roaming through the streets of Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006. An insurgent, spotting a turret opening in the roof of a Humvee Pequeno that was riding in, threw a grenade into the hole, and it detonated. The blast killed Pequeno’s driver. Pequeno was in such bad shape, the soldiers who came to rescue him feared he was also dead.
His mother received a phone call she will never forget.
“And it was a phone call that took a piece of me that I won’t be able to get back,” she said.
Fortunately, Pequeno had his door partially ajar, which allowed him to be blown out of the vehicle, probably saving his life. But the injuries were catastrophic.
“He lost half of his brain. Fifty-one percent,” Nellie said.
The Army chose not to fly his mother overseas, believing her son would not be alive when she arrived. Doctors stabilized Pequeno and transported him to a naval hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. While the circumstances were dire, Nellie refused to let hope fade.
“Nobody thought he’d survive,” she said. “Good or bad, there’s always a purpose, and I believe in that, and I always said, ‘He’s gonna live.’”
Staying Strong
In the past two decades, Pequeno has endured 34 surgeries. He can barely use his left hand and still can’t speak or walk. He communicates with eye movements and some sounds. Nellie said her son understands what others are saying. And he’s using his limited abilities to help struggling veterans.
Fellow Marines have called his home, saying they’re done with life. They’re giving up. Pequeno would not let them.
“I would translate for them and tell them, ‘No, he’s telling you no; he’s crying, don’t do that,'” Nellie said. “It’s not just saving lives; it’s giving purpose to people. They look at him and say, “Who am I to not want to do things if he’s doing this?”
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