Wounded Marine Lived for Love

Real Alabama Weddings: Marine severely wounded in Afghanistan marries the woman who helped him hold on
Real Alabama
Alex McDaniel
September 22, 2014

Jessica Stender and Kendall Bane celebrate their wedding at the Huntsville Veterans Memorial Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 in Huntsville, Ala. The reception followed at Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
(Eric Schultz)

Bane said his motivation was hinged upon the future, what he wanted his life to be, and more importantly, who he wanted to spend it with.

Days after a surprise Taliban attack in Afghanistan left Kendall Bane wrecked, war-torn and with a coin-flip's chance of survival, he woke up in a hospital room in Germany asking about his pictures.

They were of his girlfriend, Jessica Stender -- a small handful of laminated squares to remind him of the girl he knew he'd marry, the girl back in Alabama waiting for him to come home. And they were tucked away in a small pocket on his uniform Sept. 20, 2012, when a disguised Taliban operative armed with an AK-47 approached the base where the 19-year-old Marine was standing post and opened fire.

Bane doesn't remember much after that. Bullets had torn through his abdomen and both legs, leaving him severely wounded and losing blood fast. Lying on the ground, he slipped in and out of consciousness as medics moved quickly to save his life.

He remembers shock. Disbelief. Chaos.

Grappling with the reality that someone had tried to kill him.

Fighting like hell to get to those pictures.

It wasn't the first time he fought for Jessica Stender. And it wouldn't be the last.
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