I coached Curt in baseball about 4 years ago. Good kid.....please keep him and his family in your prayers as he battles through this.
Allen East grad badly wounded in Afghanistan
January 10, 2011 12:00 AM
LIMA ? An Allen East graduate serving in an Army infantry unit was critically wounded in Afghanistan Friday, but is expected to survive, his father said Sunday.
Pfc. Curtis Yetman is being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in southwestern Germany for two broken legs and extensive second- and third-degree burns.
Bill Yetman said Army officials told him his son was on patrol in Afghanistan?s Logar Province when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. The blast set the vehicle, with his son inside, ablaze. By the time fellow soldiers got Curtis Yetman out, he had second-degree burns to much of his face and third-degree burns to his legs.
He was first flown to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, then on to Landstuhl, where he?s undergone six surgeries in the last two days as doctors work to remove dead skin and clean his wounds.
The wounds are bad, but Yetman?s eyes, hands and feet were spared. His doctors say it won?t be an easy recovery, but they do expect him to survive.
?It?s unbelievable the care they?ve put into it,? Bill Yetman said.
It was about a year and a half ago that Curtis Yetman came home for the summer from Bluffton University and told his dad he?d enlisted in the Army.
?As a father, it made my heart sink. But at the same time it puts a pride in you that?s unbelievable,? Bill Yetman said.
It may have been a shock, but it wasn?t a surprise. Though the 6-foot-2-inch Yetman had gone on from playing baseball and football at Allen East High School to become a catcher for the Bluffton Beavers, he?d long wanted to join the military.
?He?s always wanted to do it, since he was young,? Bill Yetman said. ?When he went, he wanted to go infantry, the whole nine yards. I said, ?Curt, you know you?re going to Afghanistan,? he said, ?I know Dad, that?s what I?m supposed to do.??
Yetman is a member of the 10th Mountain Division. His father was impressed when he last visited them before their deployment to Afghanistan.
?Those boys were ready to go,? he said. ?There was no reservation, no hesitation. They were focused on what they were doing and they were ready to go.?
The area in which Curtis Yetman was deployed, southeast of Afghanistan?s capital city of Kabul, still has frequent fighting, his father said. The Army told him insurgents coordinated the IED attack with a small-arms ambush.
Today, Bill Yetman said, burn specialists from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio will fly to Landstuhl so they can accompany Curtis Yetman on his return stateside.
?The Army has been wonderful. They call me every two hours to give me updates. When he gets stateside they?re going to fly us down to San Antonio to be with him. They?ve been really super. Very professional.?
Several other soldiers were wounded in the attack. The Department of Defense on Sunday released the names of two men killed, Spc. Ethan C. Hardin, 25, of Fayetteville, Ark., and Pfc. Ira B. Laningham IV, 22, of Zapata, Texas.
Allen East grad badly wounded in Afghanistan
January 10, 2011 12:00 AM
LIMA ? An Allen East graduate serving in an Army infantry unit was critically wounded in Afghanistan Friday, but is expected to survive, his father said Sunday.
Pfc. Curtis Yetman is being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in southwestern Germany for two broken legs and extensive second- and third-degree burns.
Bill Yetman said Army officials told him his son was on patrol in Afghanistan?s Logar Province when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. The blast set the vehicle, with his son inside, ablaze. By the time fellow soldiers got Curtis Yetman out, he had second-degree burns to much of his face and third-degree burns to his legs.
He was first flown to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, then on to Landstuhl, where he?s undergone six surgeries in the last two days as doctors work to remove dead skin and clean his wounds.
The wounds are bad, but Yetman?s eyes, hands and feet were spared. His doctors say it won?t be an easy recovery, but they do expect him to survive.
?It?s unbelievable the care they?ve put into it,? Bill Yetman said.
It was about a year and a half ago that Curtis Yetman came home for the summer from Bluffton University and told his dad he?d enlisted in the Army.
?As a father, it made my heart sink. But at the same time it puts a pride in you that?s unbelievable,? Bill Yetman said.
It may have been a shock, but it wasn?t a surprise. Though the 6-foot-2-inch Yetman had gone on from playing baseball and football at Allen East High School to become a catcher for the Bluffton Beavers, he?d long wanted to join the military.
?He?s always wanted to do it, since he was young,? Bill Yetman said. ?When he went, he wanted to go infantry, the whole nine yards. I said, ?Curt, you know you?re going to Afghanistan,? he said, ?I know Dad, that?s what I?m supposed to do.??
Yetman is a member of the 10th Mountain Division. His father was impressed when he last visited them before their deployment to Afghanistan.
?Those boys were ready to go,? he said. ?There was no reservation, no hesitation. They were focused on what they were doing and they were ready to go.?
The area in which Curtis Yetman was deployed, southeast of Afghanistan?s capital city of Kabul, still has frequent fighting, his father said. The Army told him insurgents coordinated the IED attack with a small-arms ambush.
Today, Bill Yetman said, burn specialists from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio will fly to Landstuhl so they can accompany Curtis Yetman on his return stateside.
?The Army has been wonderful. They call me every two hours to give me updates. When he gets stateside they?re going to fly us down to San Antonio to be with him. They?ve been really super. Very professional.?
Several other soldiers were wounded in the attack. The Department of Defense on Sunday released the names of two men killed, Spc. Ethan C. Hardin, 25, of Fayetteville, Ark., and Pfc. Ira B. Laningham IV, 22, of Zapata, Texas.
