The Marine arrived at Balboa after having had a live grenade removed from his throat from an injury in Vietnam. He also had a number of other problems, and even though he was unable to walk or talk during his long and difficult recovery and surgeries, his attitude and outlook was excellent. The corpsmen and doctors in Vietnam and the nurses stateside worked diligently to help Escalera return to his family. There were a lot of seriously injured Marines and sailors returning from Vietnam at that time, but the challenges Escalera faced, and his recovery, really stand out in my mind. His story even made it into THE LEATHERNECK magazine and a number of newspapers stateside.