•Spc. Jeremy Pierce received a Bronze Star from his first deployment with the Alaska National Guard in 2008.

Pierce went to Oregon after that to care for his sick grandmother and  later signed up with the Oregon National Guard.

He received a Purple Heart this summer because of what happened on his second tour of duty in the war zone. He lost his left leg when a roadside bomb blew up the armored vehicle in which he was serving as a gunner.

Pierce, 23, is to be honored Sunday at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge by members of his former unit in the Alaska National Guard. 

The brunch, sponsored by Pike’s owner Jay Ramras, is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is free to all past and present members of the Alaska National Guard.

“You can’t really prepare yourself for this,” Pierce told a reporter from the Oregonian, speaking  from his  hospital bed in August. " I knew what I was getting into."