Wounded Owasso Soldier Returns To Family's Embrace

Emily Baucum, News On 6

OWASSO, Oklahoma -- An Owasso soldier is finally back in the arms of his wife and children after barely making it home from Afghanistan. Specialist Randen Allison credits a fellow Oklahoma soldier with saving his life.

"Thank you. Thank you," were Specialist Randen Allison's first words back on Sooner soil.

He was reunited with his wife who held down the fort back home in Owasso.

"I don't have to worry anymore. I don't have to wait for that phone call to know he's okay," said Jamie Allison, the soldier's wife.

Specialist Allison served with Oklahoma's 45th Infantry in Afghanistan and was injured in August when his unit was ambushed.

"When I dropped down and fired back I got hit in the arm," Randen Allison said.

Another Oklahoma soldier rushed to his side.

"Sergeant Isenhower did. He was the first one up there with a tourniquet," he said.

Sergeant Bret Isenhower saved Specialist Allison's life. The soldier from Seminole died in combat just two weeks later. Since then, the two families formed a unique bond through the gift of life and the sacrifice of death.

9/12/2011 Related Story: Seminole High School Teachers Remember Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

"They feel a real connection to Randen because he was saved by Isenhower and one of the last to see him. It's like a second family," Jamie Allison said.

"If it weren't for him, he wouldn't be here," she said.

"I'd just have to thank him again. I was fortunate to thank him," her husband said.

Specialist Allison spent the past eight weeks recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

"They took a vein out of my leg to repair the artery because it hit the artery and severed it," he said of his injured arm.

His hand is still weak but is strong enough to hold 11-month-old Channing.

And wave a thank you to the dozens of neighbors who lined the streets of Owasso to welcome their hero home.