Wounded Marine Sgt. Albert “Bert” Winschel of Vicksburg was strong enough Friday to call home and recuperating so well that he was bumped from a medical flight from Afghanistan to a military hospital in Germany

“It’s just really good news,” his father, Terry Winschel, said Friday afternoon, minutes after Bert called his mother, Therese Evans Winschel, a nurse in Vicksburg. The Casualty Branch Office in Quantico, Va., had told the Winschels earlier Friday that Bert was on his way to Germany.

“His condition was upgraded from serious to routine, so he was moved off the emergency flight,” Terry Winschel said.

“We expect him to be flown to Germany and then back to the United States very soon,” Terry Winschel said.

A 23-year-old father of a 2-year-old, Bert Winschel is a member of the 3rd Force Reconnaissance with Marine Special Forces. He was wounded Tuesday in southern Afghanistan as he and his unit patrolled on foot. Winschel was shot twice, in the pelvis and in the lower right leg.

Terry Winschel said Friday afternoon his son “has undergone several, several surgeries and is expected to have at least one more when he gets to Germany.”

“His mother said he sounded good,” Terry Winschel said. “He’s just very sore, and he was easily weakened just from speaking.”