Marine injured in Iraq blast
A Medford resident in Iraq recently spent two days being treated for injuries after an Improvised Explosive Device blew up the vehicle he was driving.
Stephen McLaughlin was driving a Humvee down a road near Fallujah, one he had driven down many times, when he saw a pothole that was "bigger than it was before," said his father, Joseph McLaughlin, who spoke to his son by satellite phone last week
http://www.townonline.com/medford/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=548075
By Steve Macone/ Correspondent
Thursday, August 3, 2006 - Updated: 08:59 AM EST
McLaughlin, a U.S. Marine platoon sergeant, swerved around the pothole - which had the explosives hidden in it, his father said.
Master Sergeant Charles Crosby added the explosion destroyed the Humvee and McLaughlin, along with the three other Marines in the vehicle, sustained a grade II concussion. McLaughlin also received second-degree burns on his arm, shoulder and neck.
"The guys got knocked out cold," Joseph McLaughlin said. "In the term of the Marines, they got their bells rung pretty good. It was a close call. If Stephen had driven over the IED, they all would have been killed."
Crosby said McLaughlin and the others were treated at a local hospital.
"In this case, he was just placed on limited duty for three days. It wasn’t severe enough to MEDEVAC him to another hospital," Crosby said. "That’s the kind of stuff that you see weekly. IEDs are the things that are going on over there."
Joseph McLaughlin said that after two days in the hospital, all four Marines hitched a ride back to their base with a Marine convoy, and Stephen went back to back to work with wraps covering his wounds.
"Stephen’s words were that he was going to stay with his battalion and finish the job," Joseph McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin, 25, is with the 1st Battalion 25th Marine Bravo Company of Londonderry, N.H. He has been in Iraq since February and has previously served in Okinawa, the Philippines and South America.
Joseph McLaughlin said within a quarter mile radius of his home are three other Marines who have or are currently serving in the Middle East, including Stephen Clooney, Brendan Dooley and Adam Potts.
"It’s like a little Parris Island," he said. "They all played Medford hockey, and then they went into the Marines."
McLaughlin is due home by mid-October. He hopes to join the police or fire department when he returns, his father said.
His brother, Kyle, said he’s still worried about Stephen.
"I don’t want him to be over there, but it’s what he loves to do," Kyle McLaughlin said. "And I support him in everything he does."
His family is looking forward to Stephen’s return.
"I’m actually just looking forward to getting him home." Joseph McLaughlin said, adding he suspects this was not his son’s first close call.
"He said he’d tell us the stories when he’s home," he said. "Right now, this is the greatest story of my life because my son’s alive."
For description and credits for photo, or more photos of 1/25 please click on the picture.