COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Sgt. Terry Fleming asked his mother for a mirror.

Fleming dreaded what he would see. But he needed to look.

“I looked at it for about 20 minutes. My Mom asked what I thought, and I said, ‘I’m white.’”

Seven months earlier, a roadside bomb had exploded under Fleming’s Humvee while he was on patrol in Iraq. Flames had burned every part of his body except his torso and the top of his head. The intense heat had singed the pigment off his face.

Doctors told Fleming his skin color would come back. Overcoming all of the other health threats, though, was uncertain.

Read the complete story at thestate.com

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