Local Guardsman severely injured in Iraq bomb blast

Wednesday, July 20, 2005
James Donaldson, shown here in his 2003 MHHS graduation photo, lost both legs and part of a hand when the Humvee he was driving near Mosul was hit by a roadside bomb.

A young Idaho National Guardsman from Mountain Home is in serious condition today after being severely wounded by a roadside bomb attack in Iraq last Thursday.

James Donaldson, a 2003 graduate of Mountain Home High School and the son of Judy Curran of Mountain Home, lost both legs, one above the knee and one just below the knee, and part of his right hand (a finger and severe damage to his thumb) when the bomb went off under the Humvee he was driving outside of Mosul in northern Iraq, while performing support operations for the 116th Brigade Combat Team. A second person in the Humvee also was injured in the blast, suffering severe burns.

According to his uncle, Monte Curran, a deputy sheriff with the Elmore County Sheriff's Office, "it looks like he's going to make it. He was severely injured, but the kid's strong. He seems to be in good spirits."

His mother recently began working for a contractor on base, but is perhaps best known locally for the years she served the public at the Maverick store in town. The U.S. Army was preparing Tuesday to fly her and one of her other sons, Billy, to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., as soon as James arrives from a hospital in Germany.

Because of the severity of his injuries, and the massive blood loss that accompanied them, James' uncle said doctors at the field hospital in Iraq temporarily placed James in a drug-induced coma, to help his body recover from the shock of his wounds and to bring his blood-oxygen levels up.

They stabilized him and he was flown out of Iraq the next day to an Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where he was initially listed in extremely critical condition.

Since then, he has been upgraded to serious. He has been receiving further stabilizing treatments before he can be flown back to the United States, which is expected to be Friday. The U.S. Army made arrangements for his older brother, Gary, who is stationed with an Army unit in Darmstadt, Germany, to meet him at the hospital in Germany, and then to accompany him on the flight back to Walter Reed. "He knew his brother was there, which was a godsend," Curran said.

Describing James as "my special nephew," Curran said that "Jimmy's such a nice kid. You couldn't ask for a finer son.

"I hope people realize what these guys are putting on the line over there."

Curran said most of the initial trauma of learning of her son's injuries has passed for James' mother. " She's been helped by strong family support, he said, and by "the fantastic support groups," in Mountain Home -- the local National Guard Family Support Group and the Mothers of the Military.

"I'm so happy people can help them like that. It's meant a lot. I don't think people realize how much of an impact they have. She's been made so much more at ease by the things these people have done," and other community support.

Curran said the U.S. Army will provide accommodations for James' mother for 30 days, as he begins the process of recovery and rehabilitation.

"Right now, she's pretty much put her life on hold," pointing out that focusing her life on her injured son right now will put "a terrible financial strain on her. I know they're going to need help, financially."

The local Mothers of the Military group has set up an account at any U.S. Bank branch in the name of The J. Curran Family Benefit Fund, to help defray the expenses of Judy and her family directly.

In addition, donations can be made at any U.S. Bank branch to the more generalized Injured Soldier Relief Fund, designed to help families of Idaho National Guardsmen travel to meet their wounded soldiers. That fund was created by the 145th Maintenance Battalion, Alpha Company, family support group of the Idaho National Guard. James is the third member of that unit to be severely injured in Iraq.

Curran said James will have a long, slow recovery from his wounds and the rehabilitation that will follow. "He's got a lot to go through."

And now, the courage that he showed on the battlefield will be translated to another kind of courage, as he battles to rebuild his life, a life that changed dramatically in one terrible unexpected moment in Iraq.

"It's going to be hard, but he'll make it," Curran said.

James is expected to spend four to five months in Walter Reed, and then at least a year of rehabilitation therapy.

Cards and letters of support can be sent to the family home at: James Donaldson, 1630 N. 7th East St., Mountain Home, Idaho.

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