Today in Iraq

WOUNDED NEWS FOR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2006 Spc. Michael F. Hervey, 21, was sitting next to the vehicle's (Bradley) turret door when the IED exploded and the door blew into him. She said the incident happened in Al Anbar province at about 2 a.m. Friday, Iraqi time. She said there were soldiers who were killed in the incident, and Michael was airlifted to Al Asad air base, where he is suffering from a broken right elbow, broken right leg and lacerations. Michael's family reported that he's been suffering from compartment syndrome in his leg, which means swelling blocked the blood flow and put him at risk for losing his limb. Brenda said doctors opened up Michael's leg to relieve the pressure, and when they close up his leg, he may need a skin graft. New Hampshire National Guard Staff Sgt. Matthew Bernard of Milford has been awarded his second Purple Heart. The 29-year-old father of four received the award Saturday in recognition wounds received while fighting in Iraq. Bernard was first hurt during a rocket attack in February in Ramadi. He received a slight neck injury, a minor concussion and cuts to his head. He was hurt a second time during a roadside bomb attack in March. Shrapnel hit his head and body. He suffered some hearing loss. Airman 1st Class Brandon Byers who was wounded in Iraq after a terrifying experience that nearly cost him his life. Taking his time to get out of the van he was riding in, he had plenty of help. His injuries were quickly noticeable. A leg that suffered severe damage and his right arm bandaged up. Airman Byers was part of a four-team Humvee crew that was on patrol in Iraq. He was hurt when an improvised explosive device ripped through the back seat of the vehicle. He will turn 23 years old next week. Sfc. Jeff Long of Salem, was in the hospital with second-degree burns after his Humvee on which he was a gunman was hit by a bus explosion near his unit in Afghanistan. An Armenian military officer with a contingent of troops serving in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq has been wounded, officials said Saturday. Lt. Gevorg Nalbandian was wounded while on a mission to defuse mines, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Seiran Shakhsuvarian said, but he did not say when or where the incident occurred. Nalbandian had his foot amputated after the incident A New Hampshire soldier injured in a mortar attack in Afghanistan returned home Friday to a crowd of family and friends. Army Spc. Dan Peters of Goffstown arrived at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and was greeted by songs and hugs. His mother accompanied him on the trip, and his father pushed his wheelchair. Peters recalled what happened when he was wounded: "More or less, I felt a sting on the back of my legs and the blood was pouring from my head." st. kpr. Mariusz Tomasz Sawicki ( 28 Oct 2006 )(when A MI-24 Polish helicopter made an emergency landing in Suwayra, south of Baghdad, after it was hit by small arms fire, wounding one "coalition" soldier and one Iraqi army soldier Sgt. James "Eddie" Wright lost both hands in an ambush in Fallujah 2 1/2 years ago. On the afternoon of April 7, 2004, Wright was in a lead Humvee in a hostile neighborhood. About 60 insurgents, he said, attacked his convoy with rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and machine-gun and AK-47 fire. One of those RPG rounds hit his gun, blasted off his hands and severely wounded his leg. In the early morning hours of Nov. 9, Army Spc. Alroy Billiman was helping transport goods and supplies from Jordan to Iraq when an explosion ripped through his Humvee. The explosion almost killed 27-year-old Billiman, states a release from the Navajo Nation. His right arm from the elbow down had to be amputated and his right leg was fractured. Shortly thereafter he was taken to a hospital in Germany for treatment. Pfc. Tyler Norager doesn’t remember the first moments of his second chance at life. He had just left the base on a routine mission into the city Oct. 22 when there was a deafening roar from the roadside. The 20-year-old from Clinton, Utah, had been knocked unconscious by a powerful bomb that split open his Humvee and burned a hole in the back of his neck. Staff Sgt. James Jeane was a Ranger Medic with the 172 Stryker Brigade in Alaska when he was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in August of 2005. On Feb. 26, 2006 his stryker was hit with a Suicide Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Device where he sustained very serious injuries. He was first airlifted to Ballad where he received a left side crainectomy to relieve brain swelling due to a subdural hematoma and skull fracture. He was then placed in a medically induced coma. Soon he arrived in Bethesda, Md. where he was reunited with his wife, Sunshine. He remained in the induced coma for another week in order to allow his brain to heal. After surfacing from the coma he suffered from balance problems and had difficulty speaking, both of which improved daily. Jeane underwent several surgeries - one on July 18 - to replace the missing skull flap that had been removed to alleviate the swelling. The doctors who performed the operation said that in most cranioplasty surgeries they have to shave and adjust the prosthetic to fit. Jeane's fit like a piece in a puzzle. Mark Daniel Renshaw, 20, was shot in the stomach around midday Monday. Doctors at a trauma hospital repaired Renshaw’s kidney, and the prognosis is good, family friend Rusty Boyd said. “They called to say he was stable, and that’s all we know,” she said Monday. Army Sgt. Joshua Cope lost both his legs and injured his right arm when an improvised explosive device exploded near his Humvee on Monday, said Cope's mother Linda Cope. She said several other soldiers were killed in the attack. Cope is a member of the Germany-based 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. During his first tour, Cope earned a Purple Heart after getting shot in the thigh, Linda Cope said. Spc. Matthew Small, 20, of Enfield, Conn., suffered a broken leg and shrapnel wounds when his Connecticut National Guard unit was attacked Nov. 3, Guard and family members said. Small was taken to Germany after the mortar attack, then was flown to Bethesda, Md., last week for further treatment, Whitford said. Jack Cooper (18) had been in the country for only eight days when he suffered face, chest and abdominal injures in a makeshift bomb attack on a patrol boat on Remembrance Sunday. Jack, a former Royton and Crompton School pupil, had emergency surgery in Iraq on Sunday to remove shrapnel from either side of his spine. A piece of shrapnel also hit him in the neck and another went through his face. Jack Cooper, aged 19, was in a patrol boat when it was hit by an explosive device during routine operations along the Shatt al-Arab waterway in Basra. He had only been in Iraq for eight days when he suffered horrific shrapnel wounds to his face, neck, back and abdoman. Emergency surgery on Sunday removed shrapnel lodged dangerously close to his spine. On Wednesday the Marine underwent five more hours of surgery. "The shrapnel went through his face and shattered his jaw bone. He could’ve lost his tongue. His jaw is wired so he can’t speak or eat for a while." Sgt. Edward W. "Eddie" Shaffer, 24, was burned over 80 percent of his body in the explosion near Ramadi, said his grandfather, Edward Shaffer. At least one other crewman in the Bradley was injured, he said. The Bradley is a tracked armored personnel carrier with a turret-mounted 25 mm automatic cannon. Staff Sgt. Daniel Timothy Laffin was injured Nov. 2 while working on a two-week mission in the mountains near Pakistan. Three Humvees broke down and, after the soldiers piled into four other vehicles, they were ambushed. A rocket-propelled grenade hit one of the Humvees. He said to me it was a miracle nobody was killed and they beat off the attack A 20-year-old Army soldier from Glens Falls was shot in the thigh Thursday as he waited in a tent to leave Iraq, family members said Friday. Army Spc. Taylor Stewart, son of Anni Stewart of Glens Falls and William Stewart of Hudson Falls, was wounded after he left Baghdad with members of his Army unit, the 72nd Signal Battalion, which specializes in communications. The bullet missed the bone in Stewart's right thigh and he was able to leave the hospital after a short stay, he told his parents. Luther Wikle was just 30-days into a tour of duty in Iraq when he was hurt by a roadside bomb. Wikle tells us he was hit by shrapnel in the right leg, and the wound is several inches deep in his thigh. Michael Brown, 22, a Pfc. in the Army's 10th Cavalry, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, was treated for burns to 25-30 percent of his body sustained in an ambush where an incendiary roadside device exploded while he and other Army soldiers checked a map at an intersection on Sept. 16. He said he intends to be transferred to Fort Hood to be with his unit to continue his physical therapy after some slow-healing open blisters heal. He wears gloves to protect his still healing hands and fingers that had skin grafts placed on them. Just seventeen months ago Matt Watters was an Army Ranger serving in Iraq. During an attack, a rocket-propelled grenade severed his lower left leg just below the knee. Despite grievous injury and excruciating pain he fought back, firing 29 rounds at his attacker before his rifle jammed.