By Patrick McGroarty
News Editor

U.S. Army Sgt. Brian Fountaine, who lost both legs below the knees last June in Iraq, returned to a hero's welcome at Dorchester's Florian Hall last weekend. But the reluctant hero said he has never been one to hog the spotlight.

"I'm not used to all these people," said Fountaine, whose Boston firefighter father Paul lives in Clam Point, to the crowd of 500 friends, family members, and city leaders who turned out for a Sunday night fundraiser organized by the Firefighters Local 718 at Florian Hall. "Even in basic training, I always stuck to myself, because I always trusted myself. But when you go into combat with a bunch of guys you have to trust, a lot of them don't make it back, and to come back to this great city and all these great people is really incredible."

Fountaine, 24, lost both of his legs below the knee when an Improvised Explosive Device blew up his Humvee on June 8. On Sunday evening he emerged from a Boston Fire Department vehicle with a newly fitted prosthetic on his right leg. After an emotional press conference at the Boston Firefighters Credit Union he made his way into Florian Hall followed by his parents, Roberta Quimby of Hanson and Paul Fountaine, his sister Cassie, girlfriend Mary Long, U.S. Congressmen Stephen Lynch, and Mayor Thomas Menino. Inside Florian Hall, he said the outpouring of support was humbling.

"A lot of soldiers don't make it home to this," he said. "Some of them come home… missing limbs, arms, and even their mind."

After the IED mangled both of his legs, Fountaine was airlifted first to Germany and then to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. He spent just a month in the hospital before beginning outpatient physical therapy. He's since been living at the Malone House, a facility for recovering veterans and their families, and his parents have been taking turns staying with their son on ten-day stints. His recovery was going very well, he said, until he contracted an infection in his left leg that will require him to return to Washington for additional surgery on September 25. Fountaine says that after the surgery he will concentrate on recovering to a point that will allow him to return to his life in Massachusetts.

As news of Fountaine's injuries reached Boston this past summer, much was made of his desire to follow in his family's three-generation tradition of service in the BFD. On Sunday, Mayor Menino reiterated his promise that a spot in the fire department would be waiting for Fountaine if he wanted one, but a grateful Fountaine said his priorities are elsewhere.

"I plan to get married and have kids, and I don't think the city is the place to have that happen," said Fountaine. "I'm from the South Shore. I want some peace and quiet."

With major surgery and months of grueling physical therapy in front of him, Fountaine says his thoughts remain with his fellow soldiers who remain in Iraq. His unit is scheduled to return home in December.

"I just want to tell them that even though I'm home in the air conditioning, not being shot at, not a day goes by I don't think about them," he said.

Paul Fountaine said he couldn't be prouder of the service his son had given to his country.

"There aren't enough people in the room to get all the pride out of me,' said Paul Fountaine. "There's the old saying 'go away a boy, come back a man.' Paul went away a man and came back a better man."

A large contingent of friends who graduated from Whitman-Hanson High School with Fountaine was at the fundraiser, including many of who had not seen him in almost six years. They said they were proud of their friend and inspired by his courage.

"Brian has more courage than anybody in this room - more than any firefighter or police officer," said Anna Pearson, 25, one of Fountaine's closest friends since their freshman year of high school. "He always gives good advice and he's one of the truest friends I have. I just want to thank him for being in all these people's lives. No one has as much heart and courage."