By HUEY FREEMAN

Six months after he lost part of his leg in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan, Army Sgt. 1st Class John Wright received the red carpet treatment at the U.S. Capitol.

Wright, 38, was invited by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to attend the State of the Union address Wednesday night as Durbin's special guest.

"It was a very unique experience, and I was honored to be part of the evening," said Wright, in a phone interview from a Washington airport. "It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have to be humble about it. Here was little old Johnny Wright, who used to bag groceries for little old ladies at the IGA and cleaned floors at the Dairy Queen."

The Tuscola native watched from the front row of the balcony in the House Chamber, near the center aisle, as President Obama delivered his speech.

Wright, who has been recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, was flying to San Antonio Military Medical Center on Thursday to complete his recovery. He plans to remain in Texas for about eight months.

"My rehab is going very well," said Wright, who was still in a euphoric frame of mind, just hours after being treated like royalty by senators, staff members and congressmen on Capitol Hill. "I've gotten huge support from the staff at Walter Reed on the rehabilitation. I'm doing surprisingly well. I still use a cane to walk with. I've all but ditched the wheelchair. I use it around the house."

Wright, who obviously has not lost his sense of humor, gets around on a prosthetic lower right leg. He also lost the ring finger on his left hand.

"My wife and I kind of joke about it," Wright said. "I get to use the excuse, if she asks me (to get her ) a drink. I say, 'Are you kidding me? I only have one leg.' "

Wright joined the Army in November 1990, after graduating from Tuscola High School the previous year. He was deployed with the 555th Engineer Brigade on July 24, 2009, when an improvised explosive device was detonated by a land mine as Wright dismounted from his vehicle.

"When the IED went off, I was the only one hurt," said Wright, who had completed a tour in Iraq shortly before his Afghanistan deployment.

Wright said he is not sure why he was selected to be honored by Durbin, but he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

"It was very cool," Wright said. "It was kind of surreal. Sen. Durbin's staff and Sen. Durbin were very gracious hosts and very humble people. Even though he is the majority whip, he was a very compassionate person, very caring about my needs for the evening. I didn't feel like I was in front of a senator. He made me feel very at ease."

Durbin has been hosting wounded warriors at the State of the Union addresses since 2005.

Wright, who had not rubbed shoulders with many big-league politicians before, attended the secretary of state's dinner in the Capitol's Statuary Hall before the speech. He was joined for the traditional pot pie dinner by a congresswoman from California who was born in the Bronx and a senator from Ohio whose names were forgotten in the excitement of the evening.

He also met Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and saw two recent presidential candidates.

"I met John Kerry, who is about 12 feet tall," Wright said. "What a guy to be in close proximity with. I saw John McCain walk through. He picked up a plate of food and went on."

During the speech, Wright was flanked by Caryll Kyl, wife of Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., the minority whip, and Mike Gonzalez, vice president of Heritage Foundation.

"I was feeling like a fish out of water," Wright said.

He remembers the number of the prime seat he occupied in the front row of the balcony: Seat 8, four seats to the right of the middle aisle. The president delivered his speech almost straight ahead, just a little bit to the left, in military parlance.

"The president was right at my 11:30," Wright said. "I had a great view of the entire chamber."