Sgt. Tim Gilboe of Jackman speaks at VFW Post 6859 in Portland Friday after being presented with the armored breastplate that saved his life during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2011. In hand-to-hand combat, an enemy insurgent shot Gilboe point-blank with an AK47.

The 26-year-old Gilboe is now a student at Southern Maine Community College, studying construction.

Derek Davis / Staff Photographer

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