Ind. Guardsman injured in deadly blast recovering

HAMMOND, Ind. — The only survivor of a roadside bombing in Afghanistan that killed four members of an Indiana National Guard unit has undergone a five-hour surgical procedure to implant titanium plates in his face.

Relatives of Pvt. Doug Rachowicz said the 30-year-old Hammond soldier underwent the five-hour facial surgery Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Kathy Rachowicz said her son has undergone multiple surgeries since the Jan. 6 roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, but she said Friday's surgery was expected to be the final surgical procedure he'll need.

"Now he will start to heal," Rachowicz told The Times of Munster.

On Saturday, she said her son was able to walk, with help, for the first time since the blast. Kathy Rachowicz said her son hasn't spoken yet but that he was able to communicate Sunday with relatives using a pen and paper to write some notes.

She said he wrote "hi" and "what" and asking them questions about what was going on. He even asked who was going to do his taxes, something that indicates he is able to tell what time of the year it is.

"That's wonderful. I feel very blessed that he has comprehension at all," Kathy Rachowicz said.

She said her son hasn't been told that the four fellow soldiers riding in the military truck he was driving were killed in the blast. Kathy Rachowicz said her son is persistent in asking what happened and his family is worried that the sad news will take a mental toll on him.

She said officials may inform her son sometime Monday of the deaths.

Spc. Brian J. Leonhardt, 21, of Merrillville; Spc. Robert J. Tauteris Jr., 44, of Hamlet; Staff Sgt. Jonathan M. Metzger, 32, of Indianapolis; and Spc. Christopher A. Patterson, 20, of Aurora, Ill., were killed in the explosion.

All four, along with Rachowicz, were members of the Valparaiso-based 713th Engineering Company.

Since the explosion, Rachowicz has been on pain medication constantly, his mother said. He's had pins placed in his hips and his nose was reset to repair his sinus area. He also has a tube in his throat to help him breathe, a back brace for his back injuries and his ankle is secured with a boot.

Despite her son's slow improvements, Rachowicz's two children haven't yet been able to visit or talk to their father. Kathy Rachowicz said the family will plan a trip for them soon.

Family and friends are planning several benefits for the recovering soldier. The next one is a Feb. 6 taco dinner at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Hammond. Proceeds from that dinner will be donated to the Rachowicz family to help the solider and his children with the recovery after he is released from the hospital, which could be up to seven months from now, his mother said.

"He's where he needs to be right now, and we will get him home as soon as we can," she said.