Four local National Guard troops remain hospitalized after wreck

None of the four suffered a life-threatening injury.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Four local National Guard members injured in a bus accident in Kuwait remained hospitalized while the rest of their unit went on to duty in Iraq.
The four were among 24 members of Battery A of the 107th Field Artillery of the 1st Battalion, with headquarters in Hermitage.
Authorities said the bus they were in was part of a convoy going from Camp Virginia to the Ali Al Salem air base Sunday. The troops were flying into Iraq to begin a year of duty as military policemen. The cause of the crash is still being investigated, but authorities said it rolled over.
Most of those hurt suffered only minor injuries and went on to Iraq, but four were hospitalized in Kuwait, said Capt. Corey Angell, a National Guard spokesman.
Who they are
Information sent to the families identified the four as Sgt. 1st Class John Whitman, Specialist Christopher Francis, Sgt. Norman Barnes and Specialist Joshua Wiant.
Whitman, Francis and Barnes are affiliated with the armory in Hermitage while Wiant is a member of the battalion's headquarters unit in New Castle. He was assigned to Battery A for deployment to Iraq. The unit was activated in December.
Cindy Whitman of Hartford said she spoke with her husband, John, after the accident Sunday and again Monday and, "He's doing fine."
He told her he suffered cuts of the face and head and hairline rib fractures, she said.
Whitman, 39, is a corrections officer at the Ohio State Penitentiary and has been in the National Guard since 1997, after 131/2 years in the Army, his wife said. She said her husband indicated none of the four hospitalized had life-threatening injuries.
Authorities said one of the four suffered a hand injury that would require surgery. Reports indicated that was Barnes, who lives in the Hillsville area of Lawrence County.
Angell said he could receive treatment in Kuwait but the Army may send him back to hospital facilities in Germany if he faces a long treatment period.
The other three were expected to have only short hospital stays, he said.