On June 30, while he was patrolling a small town on the Iraqi-Syrian border, an artillery shell planted by Iraqi militants went off just a few feet from Jason, sending shrapnel through his head and leaving him barely alive. He was rushed to Baghdad, then to Germany and later to the United States for medical attention. For the past nine weeks, he has been recuperating at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital, undergoing intense physical therapy and receiving treatment for some of the brain damage he suffered—and this is expected to continue for up to 18 months.

But on Nov. 12, Jason will step out of his hospital ward and receive a hero's welcome from his alma mater, Cupertino High School. In his high school years, Jason was a star athlete. He was part of the varsity football team and a track champion.

So on Friday evening, just before the football game, Cupertino High in a special event, will pay tribute to its former student for his services to the United States—a country that has been his home for only the past 10 years.

The Pooles—Jason and his father, twin sister and younger brother—originally from Bristol, England, moved to the United States in 1994 "looking for a better life," says Stephen Poole, Jason's father. When Stephen took an intercompany transfer at Hewlett-Packard, Cupertino was the obvious choice because of its schools, he says.

"But even when he was in high school, Jason wanted to join the Marines. He enrolled in weekend programs where kids are taught military activities, and he enjoyed it. Jason felt he needed the discipline to focus his efforts," says Jason's father. And joining the Marines would also help Jason pay for his college tuition.

In September 2000, Jason enlisted in the Marines. "At that time Jason was still a minor, and I had to sign the papers for him. Though it was his decision to join the services, his stepmother and I discussed with Jason the ramifications of such a decision. We pointed out that in case of a war, he would have to kill people and that the Middle East could escalate at any time. We did not think that it would really happen, but we explained the whole scenario to him anyway," says Stephen. He says he would have been more hesitant to allow his son to enlist had the same situation come up after 9-11.

Barbara Nunes was the principal of Cupertino High when Jason was still a student. "I remember him as a good athlete and also a very good actor. He was part of the Grease production in his final year," says Nunes. "But his interest in the armed services was apparent even then. In his high school yearbook picture he is wearing a Marines T-shirt," she says. Nunes also says that the core values that are the hallmark for an excellent Marine began to emerge during Jason's high school years. "While referring to his football season in the yearbook, Jason wrote that though the season was tough, 'it was more about team building and learning than winning,' " she says.

Christian Barbeau coached the junior varsity football team while Jason played varsity. "He was the kind of kid who stood out big time. He was really a very hard worker who had a motor that never quit," says Barbeau. "I did not teach him directly, but I remember him as somebody who would give 100 percent and more in whatever you told him to do," he says.

According to the 2000 yearbook, Jason was also voted "the most likely to get strange looks for acting normal."

But it was not "strange looks" he received while fighting insurgency in the desert sands of Iraq. His down-to-earth attitude and his gentle leadership skills won him great friendships and lasting loyalties that are evident even today as he recovers in his hospital bed miles away from the war zone. Several of his former platoon members and even some of his high school friends have visited him at the hospital and "get well" wishes have been pouring in from his Marine colleagues from across the world.

"Right from the beginning, Jason was recognized as a leader," says his father. "He was an instructor for disciplines such as close combat. I remember him telling me that he did not believe in gaining the respect of his platoon members by shouting at them and instilling fear, but rather by exhibiting his competence."

It was this competence that led to Jason being picked for some of the toughest and most important assignments in Iraq. "Even before the U.S. invaded Iraq, he was posted in Kuwait, where he was part of the security for the top military leaders who were planning the war. And this was November of 2002. Later, in March 2003, when the U.S. Marines entered the country, he was part of the first batch of United States soldiers sent in to capture Baghdad," says Stephen.

Jason was in Baghdad securing Saddam City at the time the famous Saddam statue was brought down by his fellow battalion members in the middle of the city's plaza.

There were many times when Jason could not keep in touch with his family and his father had to rely on various media reports to piece together the position of his son's battalion.

The third time Jason was deployed, he wasn't even supposed to be there. He'd already been to Afghanistan and Iraq. But he got picked at the last minute and was sent to Iraq again in May this year.

"Jason was injured just 10 days before he was set to come home," says his father.

For this latest mission Jason was sent to Husaybah, a small Iraqi town along the Syrian border, which was at the epicenter of insurgency operations. "He was part of the 2nd Battalion/1st Marines but was assigned to the 3rd Battalion/7th Marines to fill in for soldiers who had been injured or killed just a month before," says Stephen.

On June 30, Stephen Poole received a call from Camp Pendleton Marine base in San Diego. He recalls a Marine officer telling him that his son had been injured. "I remember the first thing I asked him was whether Jason was still alive." he says. "But then thinking back, I realized it was a stupid question to ask, because if he were dead somebody would have come to my house to deliver the news," he says.

What happened that day at Husaybah was not war, it was an act of terrorism, according to Stephen. He says, "One of Jason's good friends, Corporal Peters, was standing on the roof that day with the rest of his squad, guarding a main street. Peters says he saw Jason walking on the main street along with three other guys. But when they turned into an alley, he lost sight of them. Within seconds there was this huge explosion, and rocks were falling even 40 meters away. When Peters got there, he saw that Jason had blood all over him and was conscious."

The military learned later that a 155-millimeter artillery shell had been placed on a tree in the alleyway and had been detonated remotely. Jason had been just 10 to 20 feet from the explosion. While Jason sustained several shrapnel wounds throughout his body, the worst was the one caused by a piece of shrapnel that entered one side of his head in front of his ear and came out the other side just below the eye.

The impact destroyed a portion of his facial bone structure and left him deaf in his left ear and blind in his left eye," says Jason's father. "Because a part of his brain was impacted by shock waves from the shrapnel, he now finds it difficult to say or remember some of the words he wants to use."

But Jason's recovery has been nothing short of a miracle.

"When I saw Jason for the first time after his injury in Bethesda after his treatment in Germany, I completely broke down," Stephen says. "They had mentioned to us about broken bones and that sort of thing, but nobody explained to us the extent of his brain damage. At that time Jason was unconscious and one of the neurosurgeons told us that he would probably never regain consciousness or ever get out of the bed again," says Stephen, the pain of those moments still weighing in on his voice.

"There was little blood going to the left side of his brain—which meant the right side of Jason's body was paralyzed. The doctors worked to increse the blood flow and then suddenly, one day in August, the blood flow to his brain was normal. The neurosurgeon who was attending Jason said that he'd never seen anything like it in the 15 years of his service."

"That's why we call him our 'miracle man,' " says Stephen.

It was probably a miracle or perhaps just Jason's determination to fight the odds stacked against him. His father says fighting for his life was not new to Jason. "He had to struggle even at birth. He was in an incubator as a baby," Stephen says, his voice choked with emotion.

But in the nine weeks at the veterans hospital, undergoing physical, neurophysical and speech therapy, Jason has made tremendous strides. He can walk without a cane and is slowly gaining more control of his right arm. Though his speech is still difficult, he has come a long way from where he was a few months ago.

"When Jason first came here, he could not walk and he could hardly say one or two words. But now he is speaking full sentences and is a big inspiration to the staff and other patients at the hospital. He has this indomitable spirit that permeates everything he does," says Kerri Childress, spokesperson for the VA hospital. "His attitude is positive about being able to get back to where he was before. He's determined to succeed. Sometimes I spend 10 to 15 minutes with him and come out thinking that I need to stop sweating over small things," Childress says.

But Jason's father says that there are times when Jason does feel down. "He is extremely conscious about how he looks now and that he is not able to say what he wants to—and that gets to him—and he doesn't like being in the hospital all the time."

But last month Jason received an enormous emotional boost as he received his U.S. citizenship in a ceremony that was specially organized at the hospital. An official from Washington, D.C., flew down to confer him with his citizenship. It was a poignant moment for Jason and his family; after so much personal sacrifice, he could call the United States one of his homelands.

"Jason is my hero," says his father, with tears in his eyes. "He does stuff I can never think of doing. He's somebody who never gives up and he's just wonderful," he says. In the coming weeks and months, it will perhaps be his family and friends love and support, his community's good wishes and his own inner strength that will guide Jason toward a speedy recovery from his injuries and upcoming surgeries.

The tribute for Jason Poole will be held at on Nov. 12, 7:15 p.m. at the Cupertino High School football field at 10100 Finch Ave. For more information, contact Cindy Ravadge at 408.366.2197.