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Community Supports Wounded Warrior

By Stephanie Parkinson
April 21, 2012 Updated Apr 21, 2012 at 5:04 PM EDT

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - A hometown hero is welcomed back in his Wabash County community. Army Specialist Rex Tharp is still recovering from injuries he suffered while serving in Afghanistan.

Saturday close to a hundred gathered in North Manchester to welcome the wounded warrior home.

"When I woke up I had no clue what happened, I was just laying there and my ears were ringing real loud," said PFC Rex Tharp, wounded soldier.

Tharp lost his leg while serving in Afghanistan. Now he's home, his friends and family are making sure he knows how much his service means to them.

"There are no words we can give you to let you know our gratitude for what you have done," said Jenae Renze, family friend.

"The support from the small town, you can't beat it, it totally blew me out of the saddle, and him too," said Geegee Tharp, Rex's mother.

The event was about more than welcoming Rex home it was also an effort to raise money for him and his family. His mother stopped working so she could help her son while he goes through physical therapy.

"It's going to take about a year for him to medically get discharged, so how long I'm going to be needed there I don't know, but I'm a mom, he's number one," said Geegee Tharp. "We just have to stand strong, and I have to stand strong for him too."

He may have lost a limb, but it isn't slowing him down.

"I could sit around, you know just sit there and be down and depressed all day long but that's not going to do anything, it's not going to do anything at all. You just have to keep going with it, take what you get and keep going with it," said Rex Tharp.

It may not be an easy road ahead but after he's done with therapy this 21-year-old veteran plans to go to college and pursue a career in music.



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