Twenty-four-year old R.J. Wild shows off the medals on his backpack following two tours of duty as Marine. The most special, the Purple Heart, given to those wounded or killed in combat.
"I thought the medals were too precious to my heart to let go and just sit in a closet and get dusty," said Wild.
Wild's unit was ambushed in Iraq in 2006. Two rocket propelled grenades hit them.
"The next thing I know I wake up in Germany," said Wild. "I was in ICU with any kind of brace you could put on me.I had a neck brace, a back brace, arm brace and had a morphine button."
When Wild got back to the U.S. he moved to the Upstate with nothing more than this backpack in hand.
"I came to Greenville because I wanted to start a new life," Wild said.
Wild works two part time jobs. One as a window washer and one as a trainer at Knock It Out in Greenville.
For a year and a half he hasn't had a way to get to work.
"I was asking for rides, taking cabs, taking buses," said Wild.
But this month he was awarded a $3000 grant from Semper Fi to get a vehicle. Last week he bought a used car and a black and red 2004 Honda CBR motorcycle. He said sometime on Monday night or Tuesday morning the bike was stolen from Haywood Point Apartments on Haywood Road.
"I parked it underneath a light at my apartment complex right next to a police car," said Wild. "When I woke up in the morning it was completely gone. I got a blessing from God for this grant and to find out it was gone with less than a week it really crushed me."
His message for those who took it:
"If you needed this bike more than me I could gladly give it to you but I just wish you could have had a heart and thought about this, could be somebody's bike who really wants it or needs it."
A plea to return a precious gift to a man who has sacrificed so much.
Anyone with information about the motorcycle should call the Greenville Police Department Tip Line anonymously at 864-271-GCPD (4273).
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