No one wants to win a Purple Heart.

U.S. Marine Cpl. Brian Knapp, of Union Springs, received his because a roadside bomb buried in a dry river bed struck his humvee traveling along a road in western Afghanistan in August. A captain was killed in the attack, and four were injured. Knapp suffered a concussion, severe whiplash and a Z-shaped cut on his forehead that required 20 stitches to seal.

Though the attack may have shaken the resolve of other soldiers, it only strengthened Knapp's commitment to his mission.

“I wanted to rid that from the land and let people get back to their way of life,” Knapp said. “Afghanistan can be a beautiful place, if it wasn't for the Taliban.”

Knapp's road to Afghanistan began in Fleming, from which he attended Union Springs High School. A basketball player in high school, Knapp went on to study criminal justice at Cayuga Community College. But working full-time to support his tuition wasn't a smooth arrangement.

Feeling enlistment would assist him both financially and vocationally, Knapp joined the U.S. Marines in February of 2006. His decision alarmed his wife, Christina, and his mother-in-law, Colleen Campbell Carter.

“He was adamant about doing it and when we realized we weren't going to change his mind, we were supportive,” Carter said. “(Christina) knew it was something he wanted to do.”

Boot camp in Parris Island presented Knapp with less of a challenge than the one hyped up by the media.

“I was in shape, and I knew they were going to be playing mind games,” he said.

Knapp was less prepared for deployment, though the possibility had loomed in his mind. As a logistics/embarkation specialist, Knapp ventured to Afghanistan in March 2008. Immediately he faced several conditions he'd be forced to adjust to during his service in the war-torn country: heat as high as 138 degrees one day, poverty and, of course, hostility.

Knapp spent the next five months managing both his unit's gear on base and the operations of the base itself, such as its power and food supplies.

On two occasions, Knapp engaged enemy forces. In one battle north of Herat Province, his unit was under attack by about 30 insurgents firing mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. Though perilous, the experience had little lasting impact on him psychologically.

“It's kind of a rush you get,” Knapp said. “You react the way you're taught; you don't have time to think whether it's dangerous.”

It was Knapp's day-to-day experiences among the citizenry of Afghanistan that affected him more than any combat. Afghanistanis driven from their homes and into poverty by the Taliban's oppression all but hid their sadness over their situation. Their only request, Knapp said, was food.

“It changed my outlook on life,” Knapp said. “There's so much that people take for granted, and we don't realize how bad some people have it.”

Knapp spent his free time in the Middle Eastern country playing video games and watching movies with his fellow soldiers. He also received frequent care packages from his family in Union Springs.

For Carter and her daughter, the news of Knapp's attack drove home the danger he faced abroad.

“(Christina) explained that he was going to be OK, but you just don't know,” Carter said.

Since Knapp returned to the United States in October, his family has noticed subtle changes in his demeanor from his time in the Marines. Carter feels the military has made him less shy than the child she saw graduate sixth grade and Union Springs High School alongside her daughter. And she believes the attack itself altered Knapp's perspective in a deeper way.

“When he started to heal and realize what happened to him - or what could have happened to him,” Carter said, “he realized what was important to him. He appreciates the small things in life now.”