Bomb injures local soldier

CASEY RESSLER/Frontiersman Valley Life Editor

MAT-SU - A 2002 Colony High School graduate is recovering at a Washington, D.C., hospital after an improvised explosive device detonated just two and a half feet from him while he was on patrol in Iraq with the U.S. Army.

Spc. Kevin Spangler suffered multiple injuries after he tried to detain a suspicious looking man Monday, with the 3rd platoon of the 1-8 Infantry Battalion (armored).

&#8220We talked to him (Thursday) for the first time, and he clearly remembers everything that happened,” his mother, Sherri Spangler, said Friday. &#8220He said he saw someone suspicious and left his Humvee to detain him when the bomb went off. His body armor saved his life.”

Spangler sustained major injuries - a bruised lung, a punctured spleen, loss of the lower half of his left ear along with the hearing in that ear, and extensive damage to his shoulder, including the muscle on the upper forearm and underarm.

Following the explosion, he was transferred to Landstuhl, Germany, for immediate treatment. He was on a ventilator until Thursday. After being off the ventilator for 24 hours, he was scheduled to fly to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on Friday. His parents left Friday to be by his side.

&#8220They tried to take him off the ventilator a few times before, but his lungs weren't ready to work yet,” Sherri Spangler said. &#8220It's scary as heck, but the doctors have told us it's not life-threatening.”

Spangler has been surrounded by family every step of the way. His cousin, Loni Hankins, is stationed in a military hospital in Germany, and she was able to catch a train and be with him in Landstuhl.

&#8220That was so nice, because the cousins are all really close, and she was able to tell us more of what was going on,” Sherri Spangler. &#8220My daughter lives in Pennsylvania, so she's coming down to be with him, too.”

Sherri Spangler said surgery won't be required for the lung and spleen injuries, but her son will need surgery to repair his ear and shoulder. She said doctors have told her that while reconstruction surgery will be needed, amputation will not, which gave the family a sigh of relief.

Spangler graduated from Colony in 2002 and enlisted in the Army later that fall. He was deployed to Kuwait on Dec. 1, and his unit moved into Iraq on Christmas Day. Last summer he married, and had re-upped with the Army through 2009. His mother said being in the military has been a great experience for her son.

&#8220It's been great for Kevin - he's very close to his guys, and he enjoys the teamwork and working together to help each other out,” Sherri Spangler said. &#8220I'm not sure how this is going to affect him or those feelings, but he's always talked about how much he enjoys it.”

His platoon lost one soldier a week prior to Spangler's incident. Sherri Spangler said she's thankful her son was the only one hurt in the incident.

&#8220For Kevin, that would have been the hardest part, knowing other people were hurt,” she said. &#8220That's just the kind of guy he is.”

Spangler is based in Fort Carson, Colo.

Contact Casey Ressler

at 352-2265 or valleylife@

frontiersman.com.