Two Washington state soldiers hurt by roadside blast in Iraq

Earlier this week in central Iraq, two soldiers from the Army Reserves 737th Transportation Company were wounded when their convoy struck a string of roadside explosives.

Maj. Lawrence Bittner, commander of the Yakima-based company, says it does not appear that Staff Sgt. Richard David Peters of Yakima and Spc. Joseph Ballard of Pasco suffered life-threatening injuries.

In a note sent to the soldiers’ families and the Yakima Herald-Republic, Bittner said Peters and Ballard were injured while traveling in a convoy in central Iraq between two camps about 235 miles apart.

Bittner said the convoy hit a “daisy chain” of so-called improvised explosive devices, each one triggering the next. He praised several soldiers for their quick action, noting that one man tore the roof off a damaged truck to get to the civilian driver.

Both men were flown by helicopter to the local combat support hospital.

Ballard is a truck driver with the 737th and is expected to return to his unit as soon as he can be picked up, Bittner said.

Peters, taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, was scheduled to undergo surgery to repair damage to his sinuses. He’s expected to return to Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma in a few weeks to complete his recovery.