Soldier from Selah Injured in Iraq Blast

published 1.4.06

A Yakima Valley soldier based at Fort Campbell, Ky., was seriously injured Sunday in Iraq when a car bomb went off next to the Humvee he was riding in.

Spc. Evan Mettie, 22, of Selah remained in a coma Tuesday and was expected to be transported today to Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center, said his sister, Kira Mettie.

The 2002 Selah High School graduate sustained extensive injury to the left side of his body from the explosion that occurred New Year's Day in Bayji, Iraq, a city near Mosul.

Mettie's left arm was shattered and a main artery in the arm was repaired at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, an American military hospital in Germany, where he was evacuated after he was stabilized, Kira Mettie said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Mettie remained in a coma. Physicians in Germany performed two surgeries: one to remove a golf ball-size piece of ragged metal from the left side of his head and another to alleviate pressure from his left eye.

Kira Mettie said physicians told her family they won't know how permanent his injuries are until the swelling goes down, which could happen this week.

Good news came Monday afternoon when, at his mother's request, nurses put a phone to the soldier's ear and his heart rate lowered at the sound of her voice, said his mother, Denise Mettie.

The family plans to travel to Walter Reed either today or Thursday at the Army's expense to be at Evan's side, Denise Mettie said.

Mettie joined the military after graduating from high school in 2002. He was assigned to the Army's A Troop, 133rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division and was stationed at Fort Campbell before his deployment to Iraq in September.

Another Washington soldier in the 101st, Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Vanderhorn, was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Vanderhorn was from Beaux Arts, near Bellevue.

by Tracy Sawyer