Thirteen years ago, Joe Deslauriers Jr. answered his nation's call to duty. Now friends, family and strangers are answering one for him.
A series of fundraisers were scheduled this weekend to help Deslauriers, 32, an Air Force technical sergeant wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in September.
"The outpouring of people's generosity, it's just overwhelming. It's unbelievable," said Deslauriers' father, Joseph Deslauriers Sr. "You've got to take a couple of breaths, a few steps back, and look up and say, 'thank you.' "
Deslauriers, a 1998 Bellingham High School graduate who attended Framingham State University, is recovering in the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., said his father. Joe Jr. lost both legs and part of an arm as his convoy cleared a road for explosives.
"He's getting more mobile," said the elder Deslauriers, a firefighter in Bellingham. "They removed his central IV line ... yesterday or the day before, and that was the last thing that was hooked up to him. Each day seems to bring forth a little more progress."
The younger Deslauriers has done two tours of duty in Afghanistan and served in Iraq, Kuwait and Kosovo.
Deslauriers said his son was able to go to an event off-base for the first time on Thursday, but it could be almost a year before he returns to his Florida home. The airman does not have prosthetics yet and is participating in physical therapy for balance.
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