Adam Keys returned to Whitehall for a ceremony honoring his service.

The Allentown Honorary First Defenders honored Keys, a decorated Army soldier who lost three limbs July 14, 2010, when a roadside bomb in Afghanistan ripped through an armored military vehicle. The ceremony took place Jan. 13 at the American Legion Hall in Fullerton.

Keys, accompanied by his mother, Julia Keys, made the trip from Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D.C., for the program. Honorary First Defenders Commander Dick Schreiner presented Keys with proceeds from a golf tournament held by the group at Shepherd Hills Golf Course.

Schreiner spoke of Keys' valor and sacrifice to his country, inviting the soldier to an upcoming annual banquet.

A large group of veterans and friends was present to welcome Keys back home. He resided in Hokendauqua before enlisting in the military.

Schreiner said the Honorary First Defenders is an organization of patriotic men and women dedicated to supporting the National Guard, Army, Navy and Marine Reserve troops in the area who "in turn faithfully carry on in the tradition of their famous forbearers."

The original bylaws, which date to 1939, list the group's objective as the perpetuation of the memory of the original First Defenders who responded to Lincoln's call in April 1861, and to assist the National Guard, Schreiner said.

The organization was created to demonstrate to the young men called up for training before entry into World War II that their hometown believed in what they doing and were there to assist them in any way possible.

These days the organization has expanded its reach to the Army, Navy and Marine Reserve units in the Lehigh Valley. Each of the local units annually receives a $1,000 stipend from the group so provisions can be made to provide the amenities that cannot be requisitioned via normal supply channels.

Keys' best friend, Jesse Reed, of Hokendauqua, was killed when the blast shredded their convoy in Zabul, Afghanistan. Keys has returned to the Lehigh Valley on several occasions, including last July for the dedication of a memorial bench along the Ironton Rail-Trail near the Hokendauqua American Legion in Reed's memory.

Surgery still awaits Keys, who already has endured more than 100 procedures. Keys said in the next two or three weeks his road to recovery will take another positive turn as he will be fitted for a prosthetic leg.

Also in the planning stages is a house for Keys, thanks to a man from Brooklyn, N.Y., and an organization he founded to assist wounded soldiers. The site for the specially built house has yet to be determined.