The package arrived in February, delivered to Yves Cachuela about a decade after the explosion. He held the envelope with a nerve-damaged grip and unsealed his Purple Heart, the medal providing a sense of validation for the medically retired Marine corporal.
Cachuela then passed it forward. On May 4, he gave his Purple Heart to a civilian whose strength and resilience inspired him.
Aldon Smith.
The Cowboys defensive end's bedroom in the Dallas area displays all the standard insignia of an NFL athlete. But near a trophy and decorative game balls, there sits a Purple Heart. It reflects the adverse path he has walked, a journey to overcome alcohol dependency, childhood trauma and depression that Smith hopes can inspire others.
Before presenting Smith the emblem, Cachuela wrote him a lengthy text message, conveying his desire to give Smith the medal. It is typically reserved for military members injured or killed in combat.
"As I explained it to him," Cachuela said, "even though he didn't go through combat like we do, you experienced the misery, the hurt, the pain that we do go through. He has that courage to get back up and not give up."
On Thanksgiving, Smith is thankful to be back from where he's been.
He often tells people he didn't hit rock bottom when out of the NFL the previous four-plus years. He hit rock bottom and kept plunging, reaching a depth below the surface where light cannot reach. He sank into darkness without tools to resurface.
"I was in a bad place," Smith said. "For anybody who listens to this story, who reads it, if you have been in a place where you can't see anything other than the situation you're dealing with and then things just pile up to a point where you lose hope, that's what happened. I lost hope.
"Being in a place now where I have everything back and it's better than it was before, I'm just grateful for being able to see the light."
