County Honors Jefferson Marine Who Lost Legs Fighting in Afghanistan

Seven months after losing his legs in an IED explosion while fighting in Afghanistan, United States Marine Sgt. Aaron Alonso was honored by the Morris County Board of Freeholders for his courage and service.

Alonso, of Lake Hopatcong, was deployed one week after his wife gave birth to the couple’s daughter. The explosion happened in Nad Ali, Afghanistan, in early February this year.

Alonso was a guest at a Leadership Under Fire seminar at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy addressing critical thinking inherent to first responders to maintain during times of natural and man-made disasters.

“I refer, not only to his actions in Afghanistan, where he suffered critical, life-threatening injuries while serving his country, but also to the strong resolve he continues to demonstrate today on his road to recovery,” Freeholder Director Tom Mastrangelo said at the ceremony.

Photo Courtesy County of Morris. From left, Jeffrey S. Paul, director, Morris County Office of Emergency Management; Scott Douglas, Sgt. Alonso’s father-in-law; Anne Douglas, Sgt. Alonso’s mother-in-law; Scott Di Giralomo, director, Morris County Department of Law and Public Safety; Morris County Freeholder Director Tom Mastrangelo.