ANCHORAGE -- A third Fort Richardson soldier involved in a Humvee wreck in Iraq last month has died.
Army Spc. Jeremiah Johnson, a one-time Prairie High School baseball star from Vancouver, Wash., died Friday in Germany 10 days after suffering critical brain injuries when a Humvee rolled over into a canal in Baghdad.
"Bless his heart, we were with him to the end," said Johnson's mother, Elizabeth Johnson of Vancouver, in a telephone call from Germany. "At about 1:52 p.m. here, our time, Jeremiah passed away." The death came at 3:52 a.m. Friday AST. He was 23.
Johnson is the 12th soldier from the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, who has died since the unit arrived in Iraq in the fall.
Soldiers from another Humvee crew pulled Johnson from the water after he was submerged for more than 10 minutes Dec. 26. He suffered critical brain damage from being deprived of oxygen but survived to be flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where his parents and wife watched over him night and day for more than a week.
Two of Johnson's buddies also were killed when the Humvee crashed during a night patrol with Johnson standing in the turret as the gunner. Army authorities continue to investigate the crash but said they believe no hostile fire was involved.
The other soldiers killed were Johnson's best friend, Army Spc. Joseph A. Strong, 21, of Lebanon, Ind., and Spc. Douglas Logan Tinsley, 21, of Chester, S.C.
-- McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
