IRAQ Trumbull County man wounded in car bombing
'I just want to see him and make sure he is OK,' his wife said.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
LORDSTOWN -- Army Reserve Spec. Robert Bowker was seriously wounded Monday when a suicide car bomb exploded outside a U.S. base in Mosul in Iraq, killing three Iraqis -- including a woman and child -- and injuring several U.S. soldiers.
Bowker, 22, suffered shrapnel wounds to his left leg and arm, said his wife, Rachael, of Lordstown, formerly of Warren.
"His whole left side is messed up. He still has metal in his eye and arm, but his commanding officer told me the wounds are not life-threatening," Mrs. Bowker,19, said.
Bowker is being transferred to a hospital in Germany where his wife and his mother, Donna Bowker of Niles, expect to join him soon.
Both are expected to get separate military flights to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, with the 910th Airlift Wing at Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna, Rachael said. The 910th has personnel deployed to Germany.
Bowker is with an Army Reserve transportation unit out of Battle Creek, Mich. In Iraq, he was stationed with the 401st Transportation, with headquarters in Fort Lewis, Wash., and was attached to the 2nd and 3rd Army divisions when he was wounded, Rachael Bowker said.
Mrs. Bowker said the explosion occurred at about 8:15 a.m. Monday, Iraqi time.
What happened
According to an Associated Press report, a suicide attacker detonated the explosives-packed Chevrolet about 50 yards from the gate of the U.S. base. Three Iraqis standing nearby, a woman, a child and a guard, were killed, and three U.S. soldiers and two other Iraqi guards were wounded, said U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Angela M. Bowman.
Mosul has been the scene of numerous terrorist attacks. The last major one was June 24, when insurgents blew up four car bombs, killing more than 60 people, the military said.
Mrs. Bowker said her husband first e-mailed her from a hospital in Iraq to let her know that he was hurt, but alive.
"He e-mailed me and told me I needed somebody with me. I knew right away something was wrong. Because it hurt too much to sit down at the computer he said he would call back," she said.
She then called her grandfather, Larry Smith of Warren, to come to her home and be with her when her husband called.
"Robert told me what happened and kept saying over and over again that he loved me. He was screaming, he was in so much pain," she said.
Eager to leave
"I just want to see him and make sure he is OK," said Mrs. Bowker. Speaking at the Warren home of her mother, Sherry Kohn, Mrs. Bowker said she expected to leave Monday night or sometime today on what was to be the first airplane ride of her life.
"The first time I get to fly, and it has to be this," she said.
"All I want to do is see him. I hear his voice, but it's not the same. I want to make sure he is all right," she said.
Ironically, Bowker had been put on guard duty at the base because about a month ago he suffered minor injuries when the truck he was driving was hit.
Mrs. Bowker said her husband, who grew up in Stow and graduated in 1999 from Niles McKinley High School, joined the Army in October 1999 and volunteered to go to Iraq. The young couple was married Oct. 19, 2003, and he left for Iraq two days later. He was home on leave in May and was originally due home permanently in August, but his tour had recently been extended until October, Mrs. Bowker said.
"He always said he wanted to serve his country, and he's doing it now. He's real, real brave. He's a good guy," she said.
"He was going to come home and go to college. Now, they don't know if he'll be able to walk," she said.
About the war, she said officials need to bring all the soldiers home.
"I wish the others that are still there the best ... that they all come home safe and sound. It hurts," she said.
alcorn@vindy.com