Army Spc. Jeffery R. Moody, of the 101st Airborne Infantry, was wounded after an improvised explosive device hit the Humvee he was riding in southwest of Baghdad, but he has recovered with minor injuries.
A 2005 Bethlehem High School graduate, Moody has been serving his first active tour with the 101st since October 2007, according to his father, James Moody, an Army veteran.
We consider ourselves very lucky, Moody said. `He was on a mission and was hit by an IED, which destroyed the vehicle they were driving.`
The attack occurred on April 12, when the vehicle that Moody and two other soldiers were in was hit. Moody received `fairly minor abrasions,` according to his father, as well as some bruises and a possible concussion. He was watched overnight and returned to duty west of Baghdad after recovering. The two other soldiers also suffered only minor injuries.
The Department of Army listed Moody’s injury as head trauma.
`They’re keeping an eye on him because of all the shockwaves and brain injuries that occur,` Moody said. `A lot of people have been calling and asking about him. Somehow it got out that he was in serious condition, but we wanted to let people know that’s not true.`
Moody said that people have been thinking of his son, and he and his wife, Kay, both appreciate the thoughts and care that everyone has expressed.
Training in Georgia after joining the Army, Jeffery Moody went to infantry school in Kentucky. He is expected to finish his tour of duty in January.
Moody has a wife, JoBeth, who lives in Kentucky, where she just returned after living with James and Kay Moody. She has returned to `set up house,` said James Moody. The couple has been married for just over a year, with their anniversary on April 7, less than a week before the attack occurred.
Moody said he is relieved that his son’s injuries were minor, but he still worries about him.
`I have a beard and every gray hair in it I attribute to him,` he joked. “
