U.S. Marine Sgt. Albert “Bert” Winschel was out running an errand just 15 minutes after returning to his Bovina home Thursday afternoon — a little more than two weeks since being shot while on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan.

“He hasn’t been out of our sight since getting back to the U.S., so I think he’s trying to get away from us,” said Winschel’s mother, Therese.

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Terry and Therese Winschel joined their son at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland on March 10, the day the Marine was transferred from a hospital in Germany. They returned home with their son on Thursday, and will have him here for 30 days, after which the 23-year-old will rejoin his unit in Mobile.

“It’s been kind of a blur, between all the surgeries and moving from place to place,” said Winschel of the past few weeks. “It’s nice to be home, though. It’s a good change of pace from Afghanistan.”

Winschel was with his reconnaissance unit in Helmand Province on March 2, providing cover in a sitting position when a single bullet entered his right calf at an angle, traveled up his thigh and exited near his left hip.

“Adrenalin is an amazing thing,” Winschel said. “I really didn’t feel too much pain until they started applying pressure to the wound.”

Winschel was presented with a Purple Heart for his injuries while in the Bethesda hospital, and he was visited by football star turned mixed martial arts fighter Herschel Walker.

“They had to tell me about his football career,” said Winschel. “I only knew him as a fighter.”

Winschel said he thinks he’s undergone six surgeries since  being shot.

“It’s hard to keep track of them all,” he said.

The good news, said his father, is he should not have to have any more. With dozens of staples and stitches in his leg, and three of five fingers of his right hand bandaged — also grazed when he was shot — Winschel is walking with the help of a cane or walker. He will be in rehab for much of his time home, but also plans to relax with friends and family.

“I’d rather not be using this cane or the walker,” he said, holding up a small black cane with a gold Marine Corps pin on it. “That’s really the toughest thing. I’ve always been independent.”

When a visitor suggests he will probably be off the cane soon, Winschel smiles.

“Not as long as my mom’s around,” he said.

Therese Winschel said her son was given only 30 days of convalescent leave contingent on an agreement he would be accompanied 24 hours a day, seven days a week — a job she’s taking very seriously.

“I’d be very content just to sit and stare at him for a while,” she said. “It’s going to be really interesting around here for the next few weeks. I’m someone who really goes by the rules, and he’s someone who likes to try to bend the rules.”

“If he thought his drill sergeant was tough, he’s got his mother to deal with now,” joked Terry Winschel.

Along with Bert, the Winschels have a daughter, 27, and a 17-year-old son. Therese is a respiratory therapist and Terry is historian at the Vicksburg National Military Park. Bert Winschel is a 2004 graduate of St. Aloysius High School, and is the father of a 2-year-old. He enlisted soon after graduation and served his first seven-month combat tout abroad in Iraq in 2006-07. His deployment to Afghanistan began on Nov. 7.

Winschel said being injured has not diminished his desire to return to active duty or the war effort.

“It’s what I’ve been doing for the past six years, and I plan on going back,” he said. “It’s going to take a little while to get off the cane. Hopefully no nerve damage is permanent.” 

When he reports in Mobile next month, Winschel said he likely will continue rehabbing his leg and will remain on light duty for at least six months. Back at home, it’s light duty until then, too.

“Some cookouts, a good steak and a dark beer,” he said, “and I’ll be happy.”

Afghanistan, then ruled by the Taliban, was invaded by coalition forces in Operation Enduring Freedom about nine years ago. The goal was to eliminate training camps of al-Qaida, the organization responsible for attacks on the U.S. mainland on Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, 1,023 American soldiers have been killed there and 9,496 have been wounded. Eight of the soldiers who have been killed and 35 who were wounded have been identified as Mississippians.

Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com