One man stands out in a sea of green.
He'll soon wear another color over his chest.
"The purple cross which is right here," said Border Patrol Agent Anthony Gutierrez.
Gutierrez was awarded the purple cross Tuesday morning for being seriously injured in the line of duty.
"Ive never seen one, and it's an award that's been given to just a few agents since the inception of border patrol," said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez was on foot patrol near a Peñitas levee the night of August 18, 2009 when he noticed an ATV that was in the area driven by a suspected drug smuggler scout.
"It happened real fast," said Gutierrez. "The incident happened within seconds."
The ATV ran him over and he was airborne over 20 feet.
He landed face down, and his knees were injured.
"Everything was just a flash before my eyes," he said. "My family. My future."
His wife Eloisa said she was devastated to get the news.
"It was so difficult, and I imagined the worse, and I wondered what was going to happen with my baby and our life," She said in Spanish. "He's the love of my life."
Gutierrez was in a wheelchair and goes through physical therapy, but he's walking now and thanks God that his injuries didn't take his life.
He said he's happy to spend the precious moments with his 3 and a half month old baby Nicholas and 3 year old boy Diego.
"I just wanted to survive and do whatever I needed to do to see the next day," said Gutierrez.
And he said even though he had a scary experience while on duty, he said he's eager to continue his career with border patrol.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT