Published: August 07, 2008 10:11 am      

Wife says prognosis looks good

Twelve Mile soldier recovering from injuries suffered in bomb blast

TWELVE MILE — Misty Blickenstaff has been waiting anxiously near her phone since Monday morning after learning that her husband, Spc. John Blickenstaff, had suffered serious injuries in an explosion near Baghdad.

The Associated Press quoted military officials as saying the 25-year-old was in “very serious” condition Wednesday after his vehicle was hit with a roadside bomb.

Two additional Hoosier guardsmen, Sgt. Gary Henry, a 34-year-old Indianapolis fire captain, and Spc. Jonathon Menke, 22, of Madison, died from injuries suffered in the same explosion.

Misty said she had been told her husband was hit by metal shavings from the explosion. She said he had suffered a broken right leg, among other injuries that she didn’t want to discuss.

“He’s expected to make a pretty good recovery, if not full,” she said she was told by military personnel.

Misty has spoken to her husband over the phone at least once a day since Monday. She spoke with him Wednesday evening.

“He’s in pain,” she said. “It’s a lot to deal with emotionally and physically.”

Misty said many thoughts were going through her head when she got the initial phone call Monday.

“I just thought, ‘Oh no, oh no,’” she said. “I was very relieved when they told me that he was going to be OK.”

John will spend time at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany before heading to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Misty said she planned to visit him at Walter Reed. He is expected to be flown there in a few days.

Blickenstaff was a part of the National Guard’s 38th Military Police Company out of Danville and was deployed in Iraq to train the Iraqi police.

He had arrived in Kuwait in April and was sent to Iraq shortly after. This was his first tour of duty overseas. Blickenstaff, Henry and Menke were scheduled to come home in March 2009.

Misty said she wasn’t surprised when she found out John had been deployed to Iraq because of the lack of men signed up, but was still nervous for him.

“I know John and he was excited to go and be able to help people,” she said.

Indiana Adjutant General Major General R. Martin Umbarger described Henry, Menke and Blickenstaff as “kind of the best of the best ... great discipline, a great attitude and a can-do spirit.”

John had been in the National Guard for the past four years, while working as a psychiatric attendant at Logansport State Hospital. His father, Jack Blickenstaff, who passed away when John was 12, had been in the military, along with his grandfathers. His uncle, Ryan Blickenstaff, from Royal Center, is currently fighting overseas.

John’s mother, Pam Jones, lives in Tennessee, but is now with Misty, along with several other family members.

Misty and John have two children, Madison, 5, and Crystabelle, 3, and are expecting a third child in January.

They were married in January 2001. John attended Pioneer High School and Misty attended Caston Junior-Senior High School. The two met while they were in high school at Logansport’s Bob Evans Restaurant, where John was a busboy.

“I thought he was cute, so I gave him my number,” Misty recalled.

She said she was anxious to visit him at Walter Reed.

“We wanna see him,” she said about her and her daughters. “It helps to be able to talk with him, though.”

Melissa Soria may be reached at (574) 732-5143 or via e-mail at melissa.soria@pharostribune.com