Solider with Iowa ties severely injured in Afghanistan - KWWL.com

KWWL has received word that a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger, with relatives in Eastern Iowa, has been seriously injured in Afghanistan.

Initial reports indicate that U-S Army 2nd Lt. Jason Church, lost parts of both legs in an explosion this week on an U.S. Army mission in Afghanistan.

The 23-year old Airborne Ranger is the son of Hudson native, Colonel, David Church and his wife, Barb, of Wisconsin. Colonel David Church is a West Point graduate and a Colonel in the U. S. Army Reserves.

            Jason Church grew up in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and is with the 1st-23rd Infantry, a Ranger Airborne unit, based in Fort Lewis, Washington. He is a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse graduate, and played fullback for the college. He is a graduate of the UW-La Crosse ROTC Program.

His grand parents, Becky and Jason Church are longtime Hudson residents and retired educators.

They told KWWL Jason was in an Army vehicle when it struck an I-E-D during a mission south of Kandahar, near the border with Pakistan.

They don't have many of the details yet, but their grandson will be flown to Germany for stabilization and then to Walter Reed Medical Center.