Wabash soldier hurt in Iraq
By SHEILA RHOADES
Friday, February 3, 2006 10:56 PM EST
A Wabash native serving in Iraq will return stateside Sunday after being
injured in a recent attack near Baghdad.
U.S. Army Sgt. Nathan Thomas received injuries to his head after the convoy
he was traveling with two weeks ago was hit with rocket propelled grenades
(RPFs), improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and insurgents shooting AK-47s.
After several attempts to ascertain Thomas' whereabouts and what injuries he
may have suffered, The Plain Dealer received an e-mail from him as he rests
in an American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
"I was informed that you ... wanted to know what happened to me," his letter
began. "Well, I figured that I would give you the true story instead of you
hearing it from someone else."
Thomas, husband of CiGi Thomas, Wabash, and father of three children,
Latasha, 5, Tabitha, 4, and Koby, 2, said he was in the Individual Ready
Reserve, a program where soldiers have completed their original enlistment,
but haven't served a total of eight years. It was then he was called back to
active duty to serve during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was deployed from
Fort Bliss, Texas, he said.
"I had my Military Occupational Service - which is your job in the
military - switched to be a truck driver," Thomas told The Plain Dealer in
his email. "I was sent to Tallil Air Base, Iraq, where I (traveled) on
various convoys through all of Iraq ... delivering supplies to various
bases."
The dangerous missions took Thomas through high risk areas each trip,
including such cities as Fallujah, Mosul, Kirkuk and Tikrit to name a few.
His first convoy was to Baghdad.
" ... we delivered supplies to troops stationed there," he said. "While on
that convoy we encountered small arms fire, RPGs and IEDs. One of the trucks
in our convoy had broken down and we had to get out of our trucks and pull
security while other troops prepared the truck to be towed out of the 'kill
zone.'"
He explained that the kill zone is a military term for an area under attack
"in a place where the chances are extremely high that someone will be
killed."
That was one of several attacks his convoy would endure.
"We were surrounded by insurgents shooting AK-47s and RPGs at us. After we
got the truck hooked we got back in our trucks and got out of the kill
zone."
He said he was injured during another trip to Baghdad.
"I can't remember the full details of it, but I remember an IED blast," he
said, adding the no one else was seriously injured.
During the blast his head impacted the inside of his truck. Although
injured, he made several more convoys, until on Jan. 20, he could go no
further.
"While returning from the convoy from Northern Iraq, I had gotten dizzy
while driving," he explained. "So after returning to base I went to sick
call the next day. The doctors at Tallil evaluated me and they felt that I
needed to be Med-Evaced (medical evacuation) to Camp Ananconda. I was
evaluated by doctors there who felt I needed to be airlifted to Landstuhl,
Germany."
By pure coincidence, his flight to Germany was the same transport that took
ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt, who were injured in a
separate attack.
"They were on stretchers in front of me and both were hurt very badly. But
the doctors that were on the flight did an extremely good job at keeping
them alive," he said. "Both had very bad injuries."
Both Woodruff and Vogt have since continued to improve steadily and arrived
in the United States on Tuesday.
After arriving at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest American
hospital outside the U.S., Thomas was found to have a condition called Post
Concussion Syndrome. Also, fluid was building up behind his right eye
causing blurred vision.
"It (the blurred vision) may go away and it may not go away," he said. "And
Post Concussion Syndrome could take anywhere from one to five years to fully
recover."
Even still, Thomas continues to count his blessings.
"Seeing all the kids over in Iraq, the poor living conditions they live in
and the effect that Saddam has had on them, makes me realize how lucky I am
to have three wonderful and healthy children and to have such a caring and
loving wife back home," he said. "I never realized how much I could ever
miss Wabash until I was deployed to Iraq.
"And I would like to tell my wife Cigi that I love and miss her and the kids
so much."
Thomas, 24, is the son of Greg Thomas, Wabash, and Debra Harmon, Columbia
City. His maternal grandmother is Mintie Taylor Kerr, Wabash, and his
paternal grandmother is Laura Thomas, Roann. He is a former student of
Northfield High School and said he left school early, earned his GED and
joined the Army to serve his country.
He is expected to return to Fort Bliss this weekend. It is unknown at this
time how long he will remain there.