EWU grad injured in Mosul bombing

A Stryker Brigade soldier with roots in Eastern Washington who was injured in the apparent suicide bombing at a military base near Mosul, Iraq, earlier this week is on his way back to Fort Lewis, Wash., the soldier’s uncle said Thursday.

Army Capt. George “Lonnie” Williams’ left arm was shattered in the dining hall explosion in which 22 people were killed and about 17 others were injured, said Williams’ uncle, Jamie Williams, of Otis Orchards.

“He was lucky. He must have been sitting in just the right place where he didn’t get the full force of the blast,” Jamie Williams said.

Capt. Williams, a security officer for the Stryker Brigade based at Fort Lewis, was treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and will be transported back to Washington state as early as Satursday.

Williams, 36, of Long Beach, Wash., attended grade school in Reardan and obtained his a degree in education at Eastern Washington University, his uncle said.

His is married to Elizabeth Williams and has children.