"Coming back was scary. There was an explosion and I got knocked 10 feet back in the air. I broke an index finger, I lost 30 percent of my hearing, screwed up back, and I have nerve damage in my right arm."

A sergeant in the U.S. Army, Sanchez was a member of the National Guard for almost 20 years.

He spent more than a year and a half deployed in Afghanistan.

"We got into a fire fight for six and a half hours. They were just as close as you and me. They fired everything at us: RPGs, mortars, bullets. We lost one guy. He was roadside bombed. They had a daisy chain link of three explosives, it just cut him in half, he didn't even know he died."

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"I get depressed, most of the time I don't even want to leave the house. I might be sitting here talking to someone and I'm gone somewhere else. A lot of times I have nightmares, anything can trigger it. It will take me back to Afghanistan."

A native of New York City, Sanchez suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

He's lived at this house in Binghamton for 10 years, but nearly lost his home due to a bank error while helping at Ground Zero during 9/11.

He's since had to file for bankruptcy, and he lost his business while in Afghanistan.

Now permanently disabled, Sanchez is still able to stay positive and hopes to head back to school to study sports management.

He says he was treated well even by strangers when he came back from Afghanistan, but one episode still haunts him.

"The only big disappointment coming back was being thrown into Walter Reed Army Hospital. It was scary, it was filthy, the conditions were deplorable. As a veteran, I think I deserve more than a crackhouse hotel and what these people were putting us in."

Despite it all, Sanchez says he would still serve. But he's angry at the Bush Administration for how they've handled things.

"I think they're very irresponsible. I think if you can put $30 billion a month in one country like Iraq and subcontract everything, and then send these soldiers back here and stick them back in Walter Reed, it was deplorable."

But with a new administration comes new hope for Sanchez.

He says Obama could be just what left-behind veterans desperately need.

"I hope he does the right thing for all the veterans. If he stands behind the veterans, they will stand behind him. And if he does the right thing, it's a win-win situation."

Sanchez is planning to attend Obama's inauguration on January 20th.

He wants to be a part of history and has a simple message he'd like to tell the new president.

"I would tell him that I would serve for him. If he serves for us, then I will serve for him. I will pick up a weapon again and go to Afghanistan. But he's got to do right by us."

Neil St. Clair will be heading to the inauguration with Sanchez, so be sure to turn to News 10 Now for this unique perspective on the historic occasion.