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Dervisholli, posing in his KLA uniform, top, was hit by a grenade while fighting in Kosovo and the lower part of his right leg was amputated  ALSO: U.S. Marines come under fire in Kosovo; gunman killed European foreign ministers pledge unity in Kosovo Clinton leaves Balkans hailed a hero by Kosovar Albanians  MESSAGE BOARD: Rebuilding Kosovo

June 23, 1999
Web posted at: 7:43 p.m. EDT (2343 GMT)

NEW YORK -- (CNN) Like ethnic Albanians refugees from Kosovo, Albanian-Americans who fought in the latest Balkan conflict are returning home. And some of them are bringing back permanent physical reminders of the experience.

Haxhi Dervisholli, 29, is one of them. In April, he joined about 300 other Albanian-American volunteers in a Yonkers, New York, parking lot where they said goodbye to their loved ones before departing to fight for the Kosovo Liberation Army.

In Kosovo, Dervisholli said he was in charge of heavy machine guns for the ethnic Albanian guerrilla group.

Now he is back home in New York, with a strong sense of pride, but without the lower half of his right leg.

"A grenade fell right near my foot and blew it away," he said. He was hit about three weeks ago and taken to a field hospital where his leg was amputated just below the knee.

He is now undergoing rehabilitation in New York and will soon be fitted with a prosthesis, which his doctor said will enable him to participate in most normal activities.

Dervisholli, who was a construction worker before the war, said he has no regrets about fighting. "I am proud of what I did," he said. "I'm happy. I hope the war is over and we get our freedom."

Dervisholli added that he dreams that his family members who are now in Albania will one day return to Kosovo.

Correspondent Gary Tuchman contributed to this report.

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