Home at last, Army helicopter pilot Michael Durant can't forget those who didn't make it.
"I think about those guys every day, and I realize how fortunate I am," he said Sunday at Berlin High School, his alma mater. "They died doing what they loved best."Eighteen soldiers died fighting with him in Somalia.
At Durant's homecoming Sunday, thousands lined Main Street in this blue-collar city in northern New Hampshire to watch him and his wife, Lorrie, ride by in a horse-drawn carriage. Later, New Hampshire's entire congressional delegation turned out for a rally in the high school gym.
"What he represents is what's best about Americans - good people trying to do good things," U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg said.
Durant, 32, injured his spine and broke his right thigh when Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's forces shot down his combat helicopter on Oct. 3. A mob broke bones in Durant's face while he lay on the ground, and he was shot in the arm while in captivity.
Now, his bones are mending and Durant said he understands Somali rage over Operation Restore Hope.
"There were unnecessary losses on both sides," he said. "It's a difficult situation fighting in an urban environment; nobody's wearing uniforms, everybody's got a gun."
Durant, who joined the Army after graduating from Berlin High in 1979, told the crowd he was overwhelmed.
"You all make me proud to say I'm from Berlin, New Hampshire," he said. "It's great to be home . . . Your prayers and mine have been answered."