Area soldier wounded for second time in Iraq

Danielle last saw her
husband July 17.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Marine Cpl. Jeremiah Hill was wounded last month in Iraq, the second time in 13 months he suffered a level 3 concussion from an improvised explosive device.

Hill, 22, a 2004 graduate of Struthers High School, was leading his squad on foot when the device detonated and caused the concussion and shrapnel wounds to his face and neck, his wife of one year, Danielle (Guzzo) Hill said.

She said he was wounded Aug. 24 or 25, and has spent the past three weeks in hospitals in Iraq, Germany and at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.

He is scheduled to arrive at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on Saturday. Danielle said she and their baby daughter, Hannah Mackenzie Hill, born July 4, are leaving Friday for California.

Danielle last saw her husband July 17 when he left for his second tour in Iraq.

First injury

Hill, the son of Barbara and Rick Hill of Austintown, was wounded the first time July 14, 2006, when a powerful IED exploded about 11 feet from the humvee he was driving. He suffered a concussion, which caused memory and hearing loss.

During an interview in September 2006, he said some of his teeth were still loose and his body was still sore.

This time, he also suffered some shrapnel wounds to his face and neck, and he told his wife the concussion was worse than the first time.

Danielle, the daughter of Judy Sauceman and stepdaughter of Guy Sauceman of Youngstown, said she talks to her husband every day. She said they plan to live in California near Camp Pendleton.

Jeremiah, who enlisted for four years April 14, 2005, said after he was injured the first time he planned to leave active duty in 2009. But, before that, he planned to return to Iraq for another tour, and after that possibly become a boot camp drill instructor.

“I plan to go over again. I don’t want my boys to go back without me. It’s dangerous there,” he said.

alcorn@vindy.com