Even strangers at the L.A./Ontario International Airport terminal were brought to tears when Army Spc. Christopher Koning was reunited with his family.

It was the Chino resident's first trip home since being wounded by an improvised explosive device June 20 in Iraq.

Words, hugs and kisses were exchanged Friday between Koning and his grandmother, parents, sister, girlfriend, cousin and uncle; some of them had not seen him since the incident.

"I'm glad that he is home," his grandmother Leoma DeHarty said.

Koning, 20, was awarded a Purple Heart in

Stacey Martinez, left, watches as her boyfriend, Christopher Koning, gets a kiss on his injured arm from his grandmother Leoma DeHarty on Friday at L.A./Ontario International Airport. Koning, who joined the Army in 2007, was wounded in Iraq in July and is returning home for the first time since then. (Jennifer Cappuccio-Maher/Staff Photographer)
July for the injuries he suffered.

Koning was on foot patrol in Baqubah, Iraq, conducting a ground sweep of palm groves.

Insurgents would often seek refuge there, he said.

The device went off when Koning tripped on a fish line.

The explosion threw him face-first into the ground.

The next thing he could hear was a really high-pitched noise, he said.

"You could see almost every dust particle in the air," Koning said. "It was almost in slow motion."

Koning, who graduated from Ontario Christian High School in 2005, suffered the most severe injuries from the shrapnel to his left and right leg as well as left arm.

The call came to the Koning family in Chino six or seven hours later, said Deneise, Koning's mother.

"That phone call was the mom's worst nightmare," she said.

When Koning joined the Army in January 2007, he and his family were not sure how soon he would be in Iraq.

By that August, he was deployed to Taji, Iraq, where he was assigned to air assault.

In March, after serving eight months in Taji, Koning went home for 20 days of rest and relaxation.

It would be the first time that Koning returned home in nearly a year, he said.

When the 20 days were up, Koning said he wished friends and family goodbye as if he would never see them again.

"You live every day like its going to be your last," he said. "You grow to live with it."

When he returned April 25, Koning said the unit had been moved to Baqubah, which is about four hours northeast of Baghdad.

Koning said he experienced resistance that was more intense than during all of his time in Taji.

Koning would do 16- to 18-hour shifts and get four to five hours of sleep. Duties ranged from patrolling the city to air surveillance at a command post.

His unit occupied a former school where they had no running water or power.

Every seven days, they would travel to the base, do laundry, eat good food and shower, Koning said.

Through those tough moments, Koning said his faith, family and fellow soldiers were his driving motivation.

"The people left and right of you fighting the battle with you, you're there for them, and they're there for you," he said. "It's a real thing. You rely on them to keep you alive."

On the morning of June 20, Koning relied on his battle buddies.

The group of seven soldiers started the sweep in the early morning of June 19 - it would continue into the early morning hours of June 20.

The day had been long and hot, and temperatures reached 110 degrees, Koning said.

They only had a 1,000 meters left to clear when they took a 10-minute break.

After the break, Koning tripped the bomb.

Initially, he said he thought the group had been ambushed. He didn't realize he had been injured until he looked down at his bloody leg.

The pain then started to set in, and he yelled for help. Other soldiers came to his aid and started wrapping him up.

In Iraq, Koning would go through two surgeries and then another in Germany before being flown to the United States.

The surgeries were to wash out the shrapnel, he said. The wounds remained open after each surgery.

It wasn't until Koning reached Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., about three days after being wounded, that the wounds were closed.

For most of the time before arriving in Washington, Koning said he was heavily medicated and does not remember much.

Once at Walter Reed, Koning started his slow path to recovery.

The first day that his mother made it to Washington, D.C., she said she stayed with him all day and night.

For the first month, Koning would be bedridden. He was able to get out of the bed but not without the assistance of a walker or wheelchair, he said.

His mother and father have made trips to visit Koning, and, each time, they have noticed improvements.

"I praise God every day. I saw his hand in this whole thing," his mother said. "My heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones."

The hardest part for Koning's father Greg was watching his son struggle as he received the Purple Heart at a July 3 ceremony in the hospital's patio.

"He was struggling just to stand attention," his father said. "He was just very weak. It was heart-wrenching."

Koning is now an outpatient at Abrams Hall next to the medical center.

He still has nerve damage to his left knee and will need to have one more surgery later this month to remove a piece of rock in his left elbow.

He will have another six months to a year of rehab.

Koning said he credits his speedy recovery to his active lifestyle growing up.

These days, he isn't slowing down.

On Friday, after flying into Ontario, he went with his brother, Nick, to a golf tournament.

He also plans to visit friends in Fresno.

He is unsure about his future with the Army.

Through it all, Koning said he believes like he got a second chance at life. He said his experience in Iraq made him realize how precious life can be.

"I've always believed that if it's your time, it's your time to go," he said. "It just wasn't my time."