10th Anniversary of the War in Iraq: ‘You come home and it’s totally different’

Octavio Sanchez

Octavio Sanchez was a Marine Staff Sergeant deployed to Iraq from Camp Pendleton. In July of 2005, while on patrol in Ramadi, his vehicle struck a roadside bomb. Two comrades died in the incident, but Sanchez survived to undergo 40 surgeries at Veterans facilities and at UCLA. He’s the married father of four, who lives in Fontana, where he talked with KCRW’s Saul Gonzalez. You can hear more about how the war touched those in Los Angeles on Which Way, LA?

“I knew there was fire all around us, it was just one of those, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ moments. I was on fire.”