Wheaton grad injured in Afghanistan

A Wheaton Warrenville High School graduate is facing surgery after being wounded during an attack in Afghanistan.

A.J. DiBuono, 22, a Marine, was on patrol Sunday in a Humvee when the vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and small weapons fire, his mother, Nicci McClearn, said Friday.

DiBuono was hit by shraphnel is his neck, shoulder, hands, calf and feet. The injuries to his hands are described as severe, she said, and he's already had surgery to remove part of his left thumb.

When she spoke to him Thursday night from a hospital in Germany, he'd just come out of surgery to clean all of his wounds again before being shipped back to the United States.

McClearn said she was flying out to his home base at Twentynine Palms, Cal. to meet him when he returned today.

He's expected to have more surgery on his hands when he gets back.

DiBuono, a 2004 WWS graduate, enlisted in the Marines three years ago and is serving his second tour in the Middle East. He spent eight months in Iraq, returned home for a break, then deployed to Afghanistan on April 7, McClearn said.

His unit is scheduled to return from their current deployment later this fall.