SPOKANE - Aug. 21 was to be a special day for the Rev. Tim Vakoc, as the Catholic priest was to participate in the wedding of his niece.
Instead, Vakoc is clinging to life at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., after he was wounded while serving as a chaplain in Iraq.
Vakoc, 44, is a Minnesota native who since 2002 has been assigned to Fort Lewis. On May 30, the Humvee he was driving struck a roadside bomb near Mosul. He lost his left eye and suffered a penetrating head wound that damaged multiple lobes of his brain.[...]
Vakoc is the chaplain for the 44th Corps Support Battalion from Fort Lewis. The 44th provides logistical support to other Fort Lewis-based units working across northern Iraq, including the Army's first Stryker vehicle brigade.
Chaplains provide religious and counseling support to soldiers. More than 200 have been killed in battle in the 227-year history of the Army Chaplain Corps.
Vakoc, who previously served in Bosnia, thought it was important to minister to troops in the field.[...]
Wounded Army chaplain awaits a miracle recovery
[Link to Full Article]
NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS; The Associated Press
SPOKANE - Aug. 21 was to be a special day for the Rev. Tim Vakoc, as the Catholic priest was to participate in the wedding of his niece.
Instead, Vakoc is clinging to life at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., after he was wounded while serving as a chaplain in Iraq.
Vakoc, 44, is a Minnesota native who since 2002 has been assigned to Fort Lewis. On May 30, the Humvee he was driving struck a roadside bomb near Mosul. He lost his left eye and suffered a penetrating head wound that damaged multiple lobes of his brain.[...]
