<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" With three kids all under 3, Zach and Amy Knight, both 24, never turn down a chance to relax. So when Lillyan, 2, and 6- month-old twins Shannon and Jaelynn finally drift off for their naps, Zach and Amy exchange a knowing glance and collapse on the sofa, like millions of other busy parents do every day. However, for the Knights, marines who both fought in Iraq, such mundane moments are more than an ordinary part of daily life. They&amp;#039;re constant reminders of just how lucky they are.   Reporting for Duty   When Zach, a private first class, and Amy, a lance corporal, arrived in Baghdad in the summer of 2005, the situation was more perilous than ever. Insurgent attacks had been steadily on the rise, and more than 1,800 American service members had already lost their lives.   Zach was assigned to the 2nd Military Police Battalion tasked with escorting convoys and patrolling supplying routes\u2014missions that often involved searching for roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which had already claimed so many lives. His five-vehicle caravan team needed a female to search the Iraqi women they encountered, and Amy, an ammunition clerk at the time, got the assignment. &amp;quot;I had to work hard to earn everybody&amp;#039;s trust,&amp;quot; she says.   As Zach trained Amy to recognize insurgents and explosive devices, the two settled into an easy friendship. &amp;quot;He was the only guy who never hit on me,&amp;quot; says Amy, who appreciated Zach treating her like any other fellow marine. &amp;quot;He was my friend.&amp;quot;   Zach noticed her good looks, but he knew that his mission came first. &amp;quot;I thought she was cute, but I was concerned with doing my job, not finding a girlfriend,&amp;quot; says Zach. Deep down, though, their friendship meant a lot to him.   It Happened In an Instant   On the morning of October 2, 2005, their convoy left Al Taqaddum, just outside Fallujah, for the 60-mile trip south to Karbala. As they headed back to base later that day, Amy watched as the truck ahead of the one she and Zach were in crossed the bridge safely. Then suddenly a powerful explosion slammed their Humvee into the side of the bridge and knocked her unconscious. When she came to moments later, the road was strewn with debris, plumes of black smoke filled the air and she heard Zach&amp;#039;s anguished screams.   He lay thrashing on the bridge some 20 yards away, where he had crawled after the blast. &amp;quot;Jesus, help me!&amp;quot; he pleaded.   Amy ran to him. &amp;quot;Calm down!&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re all right now.&amp;quot; She soon realized he was anything but. Shards of metal had peppered his body, leaving him burned and bleeding. His knee was shattered, his jaw was broken and debris had ripped a hole in his hand. She and the sergeant worked frantically to keep him still and stem the bleeding.   Amy cradled his head and pleaded with him to hang on until the medevac chopper arrived. It came within 12 minutes, &amp;quot;but it felt like forever,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;I was sitting with him expecting insurgents to fire on us.&amp;quot; Mercifully, they didn&amp;#039;t.   Zach realized that, at a minimum, his life would never be the same again, and there was something he wanted to know\u2014in case he didn&amp;#039;t make it. Just before the medics loaded him onto the helicopter, he called out to Amy. &amp;quot;Hey, Delaney! Would you ever kiss a guy with a face like this?&amp;quot;   &amp;quot;Of course I would!&amp;quot; she said, then blew him a kiss.   The Long Road Back   Tammy Knight could barely recognize her son when she arrived at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Zach&amp;#039;s shattered jaw had transformed his face into a swollen mass. His body was marred by shrapnel and covered with wounds. Most shocking of all, his left leg was gone below the knee.   Over the next few weeks, Zach lost count of the number of surgeries he had to repair his broken body, but he never lost faith that he would walk again. He was fitted with a prosthetic leg about a month after the amputation and spent every day relearning how to take one step, then another.   During his battle back, he fondly remembered the pretty marine who had been his first responder and had never left his side. &amp;quot;Whenever I told anybody what happened, I would start with, &amp;#039;There was this really hot female marine sitting behind me,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; he says with a smile.   Amy had been thinking about him too, but another three weeks passed before her unit commander located Zach and arranged a phone call for the unit. Amy was thrilled to hear his voice, although she could barely understand him. &amp;quot;He was talking funny because his jaw was wired shut and he was all drugged up,&amp;quot; she recalls.   Periodic calls from the unit were followed by cards, flowers and a Tshirt signed by everyone. Amy wrote him letters, too. &amp;quot;Zach had always been someone I could talk to. He always helped me out. I missed him,&amp;quot; she says.   As Zach tackled grueling physical therapy for the next five months at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC, Amy continued her service in Iraq, receiving the Navy Achievement Medal for bravery for her actions that horrible day on the bridge. In March 2006, after getting hit in the knee by shrapnel from a roadside bomb, she was awarded a Purple Heart and sent back to the ammunition unit, then to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina a month ahead of the MPs.   A New Beginning   Zach&amp;#039;s battalion completed its Iraq tour in April 2006. Finally, all of his friends were coming home. As Zach and his mom made the drive from DC to Camp Lejeune for the reunion, he looked forward to catching up with everyone from his unit\u2014especially Amy.   She, however, had no idea he&amp;#039;d be there. &amp;quot;I figured he was back home in Oregon, then I saw him sitting in his truck with his mom,&amp;quot; she says. Amy ran to him, threw her arms around him and began to cry. &amp;quot;Oh my gosh, Zach! I can&amp;#039;t believe it&amp;#039;s you!&amp;quot;   &amp;quot;Mom, this is Delaney,&amp;quot; Zach said sheepishly. Tammy had heard stories about the marine named Delaney but never guessed her son was talking about a girl.   &amp;quot;Zach, that girl loves you,&amp;quot; she told her son later.   &amp;quot;Mom, you&amp;#039;re being so emotional,&amp;quot; he teased. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s Delaney. She&amp;#039;s one of the guys.&amp;quot;   Zach and Amy kept in touch after the reunion and he visited her almost every weekend since his physical therapy kept him at Walter Reed during the week. &amp;quot;Once you&amp;#039;ve been through what we&amp;#039;ve been through, it makes you really close,&amp;quot; says Amy.   Though their military buddies teased them about being an item, Zach was reluctant to take that step. &amp;quot;I had some real self-esteem issues,&amp;quot; he admits. &amp;quot;I wasn&amp;#039;t comfortable with myself and figured no one else would be. I thought, why would a woman go for me when she could have a full person?&amp;quot;   But he soon realized that Amy was different from most women, who either turned away or pitied him. The compassion and toughness that made her a good marine also made her perfect for him. &amp;quot;She was curious and wanted to understand what I was going through, and she wasn&amp;#039;t weirded out by it,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;I felt better about myself once I realized it didn&amp;#039;t bother her.&amp;quot; He let go of his apprehension, and the two became an official couple.   As fall approached, tough choices loomed. Zach was scheduled to be discharged from the Marines in September. He&amp;#039;d be heading back to Oregon. A DC/North Carolina relationship was one thing, but cross-country dating was quite another. Amy didn&amp;#039;t want that kind of long-distance romance, but Zach wasn&amp;#039;t willing to leave his family. &amp;quot;They had stood by me during rehab and were waiting for me to come home. I told Amy I would only stay if there was the possibility of something serious like marriage.&amp;quot;   Stunned, Amy wasn&amp;#039;t sure what she ultimately wanted, but she was sure of one thing: &amp;quot;I loved him and didn&amp;#039;t want him to leave.&amp;quot; So she agreed to take their relationship to the next level.   Zach left DC and settled into Amy&amp;#039;s little North Carolina beach house. They talked about building a life together someday, but Zach was thinking sooner rather than later. He secretly bought a ring and made plans to pop the question during their trip to Oregon for Christmas.   Amid the shopping and holiday festivities with his family, Zach surprised Amy with an overnight trip to a small Bavarian village in nearby Washington state. As snow fell, Zach pulled out the ring and proposed. &amp;quot;I knew something was up,&amp;quot; says Amy, &amp;quot;because he was acting strange, calling me Amy instead of Delaney.&amp;quot; She said yes. Soon after their wedding, Amy retired from the Marines and the couple moved to Pendleton, Oregon.   Zach&amp;#039;s scars are a visible reminder of their difficult path to the happily married life they lead now. But thanks to Amy, the insecurities he once felt are gone. &amp;quot;I am not my injuries,&amp;quot; Zach says. &amp;quot;Amy has always understood that.&amp;quot;   When people ask if he regrets going to Iraq, which they often do, his answer is always the same: no. &amp;quot;If I hadn&amp;#039;t gone, I wouldn&amp;#039;t have my wife and three beautiful daughters. And I wouldn&amp;#039;t trade that for anything in the world.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/real-women/a4214/love-war-from-marines-to-marriage-99523/>