FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- It was a hero's welcome on Fort Drum for a man who says the only heroes are the ones he came back to see.
Alejandro Villanueva is the starting left tackle for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. This week, he was the special guest at a youth football camp and other events on Fort Drum.
Spectrum News first met him five years ago when he was a 10th Mountain Division soldier. Villanueva had some chances to play professional football back then, but during a tryout, he was notified he was going to deploy to Afghanistan. When he came home from that mission, his service time ended as well.
He got a call from the NFL, and the rest is history. But he says make no mistake: He'd have always chosen the Army before football.
"Honestly, I think my dream was here and serving with 2-87 and the opportunities of going to combat with the 10th Mountain Division, and for anybody that's in infantry, that's as good as it gets," Villanueva said, adding he took his service time for granted and it's the little things he misses the most.
Villanueva says he was honored to come back and not only take part in events honoring fallen soldiers and the Salute to the Nation, but to spend time with military kids, as he was one himself.