A soldier from North Central Florida is back in the United States after suffering serious injuries in Iraq.

Joseph Catlin Mixson's relatives in Gainesville received the news Tuesday night that the 21 year old was in a humvee with four other soldiers when they drove over a roadside bomb.

Three of the soldiers were killed in the explosion, and Mixson and another were both severely injured.

He was flown to Kuwait and then to Germany, where doctors had to remove portions of both his legs because of injuries.

Thursday, the Williston native was flown to San Antonio, where doctors will also perform surgery on his arm and skull.

His family owns Ward's Supermarket in Gainesville, and everyone at the store says Mixson is on their minds and in their prayers.

"His parents have a very strong faith, and I think the hardest night was last night when they arrived in San Antonio to see their son in the shape he was. they said that it was worse than they expected, and they expected a lot, so I don't really know how he looked," said Mixson's Aunt, Trish Ward.

The supermarket will hold a Bar-B-Que all day Saturday to raise money for the Mixson family.

Mixson's aunt says throughout his childhood, he loved to fish and hunt in various different parts of North Central Florida, and that Mixson dreamed of becoming a game warden after serving in the military.

Doctors have told the family that Mixson will fully recover from his head injury, and they won't have to amputate his arm.

Depending on surgeries and recovery time, it could be a few months before he comes back to Florida from Texas.

By David Hamilton, WCJB TV 20 News