Ty Gucwa, 23, a 2003 Brandon High School graduate, was injured when a bomb exploded on Jan. 29 in the streets of Baghdad.
According to newspaper reports, five Fort Carson, Co. soldiers including Gucwa were wounded in the blast. All are expected to recover. The bomb was detonated near a checkpoint where American and Iraqi troops search people and cars near a residential neighborhood of Ameriya.
‘Army Specialist Tyler Gucwa is in stable condition,? said Maj. Jose ‘Frank? Garcia, public affairs officer 2 BCT, 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) Camp Liberty, Iraq, who contacted The Citizen on Wednesday.
‘He was injured at a checkpoint near Ameriya when an improvised explosive device detonated. Gucwa is a member of 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, presently attached to 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).?
Ty contacted his mother, Kim Gucwa, on Jan. 30 at about noon (EST) from a hospital near Baghdad where it was about 8 p.m.
‘He called from Baghdad last week and asked if the Army had contacted me regarding the injuries,? said Kim. ‘He was surprised they had not yet called us. Ty was trying to get ahold of his wife, Ashley, who is on the Fort Carson base in Colorado. He reached her later that day.?
Ty told his mother that a ball-bearing from the bomb was lodged in his left leg; however, he was expected to fully recover from the wound.
Ty joined the Army in June 2004 and served in Baghdad with the Third Heavy Combat Brigade Team from December 2004 until November 2007. During that stint he was injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) in March 2006, while serving as a gunner. The explosive injured his knee, head and damaged his hearing. Ty returned to Baghdad in December 2007. He is expected to return to the United States in March 2009.
‘Ty does not talk too much about the war,? said Kim. ‘The first six months were tough for him’people need to realize it’s a day-to-day struggle to stay alive. When Ty left Baghdad and went to Kuwait he called me and said, ‘You don’t know how good it feels to not get shot at everyday.? These guys deal with this danger every day.?
Ty is the son of Mark and Kim Gucwa and the brother of Adam and Alysia Gucwa.