Army Staff Sgt. James Clark in Afghanistan last week after an IED exploded on the striker he was riding in. The Northfield native will soon be on his way back to the US, where his family nervously waits.

Sharon Van'tLand clutches a picture of Staff Sgt. James Clark.

"I don't think anything would've changed his mind. He was where he wanted to be, where felt he needed to be," Van'tLand says.

And that place was the Army. Clark, a Northfield native, is a five year veteran. His first tour, took him to Iraq.

"He would mention some of the things he'd see in Iraq. Some of the vendors, the natives that he saw, but he'd never talk about what he was really doing," Van'tLand says.

Clark was on the front lines. In July, after a brief stay in Washington State, he was shipped out to Afghanistan. His family captures his goodbye to his family in pictures.

"In Afghanistan, he was there basically to flush out the Taliban. Get them before they got him, I guess," Van'tLand says.

Now, the father of two is coming back a physically changed man.

"The IED exploded toward the back of the striker. They say that's where, as a squad leader, he would be sitting. He got the brunt of the explosion," Van'tLand says.

The explosion was so devastating, Clark's left foot had to be amputated. His right leg was severely fractured.

Currently, he's in Germany, awaiting transfer to Walter Reed. His family is at home in Northfield, tending to his 3 year old daughter Samarra.

"You do what you have to do for her and for him and what's best for them," Van'tLand says.

Clark is expected to return to the US by the end of the week. His family will leave Northfield sometime this week.