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Mar 23, 2008 7:10 pm US/Central
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Soldier Recounts Close Call With Death In Iraq
VADNAIS HEIGHTS, Minn. (WCCO) ―
This past week marked the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. It was a chance for a Vadnais Heights, Minn. woman to reflect on her time spent in the war-torn country.
In October 2006, Tawnia Pitcher left U.S. soil to go serve her country in Iraq. She said she was lucky to return home alive, and she has her own opinion about the war.
"You have this taste, you have this smell, you have this feeling that part of you is still there," she said. "This was my main mode of transportation out there -- the Black Hawk."
As the communications specialist for her unit, Pitcher's job was to make sure air traffic control towers had the resources they needed. But in January of last year, while working on a tower in the city of Mozul, Tawnia almost lost her life.
"I was up on the tower when a mortar hit the base area. I was on the outside of the tower, and it was enough that it knocked me off and I ended up falling 20 feet from the tower," she said.
Pitcher suffered head, back and arm injuries but was somehow able to crawl about 200 yards back to camp.
She tried to continue with her duties in Mozul, but the head injury she suffered from the explosion caused pain and memory loss to the point that she had to write down even the simplest tasks.
"I was keeping a journal, trying to write things down such as when to eat and drink. So I had to make sure I wasn't forgetting to do that," she said.
Pitcher was eventually flown back to the U.S. The arm injury she suffered has prevented her from finishing school to become a massage therapist.
As a veteran, the war's fifth anniversary was a time to reflect on the past, and look towards the future.
"You know ... you can't really say much about progress because we are still working on what needs to happen," she said. "There's a lot of work. A lot of people over there still live in fear."
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