'100 percent hero' injured saving Iraqi child

Sgt. Troy Jenkins of the Army's 101st Airborne Division lost his left leg and fingers on his right hand when the bomb exploded, his mother told the Mobile Register.

Connie Gibson of Repton said Department of Defense officers told the family Monday that Jenkins was in "seriously critical" condition and is undergoing treatment in Kuwait. An attempt to reach Gibson by phone Tuesday was not immediately successful.

"He's a hero," Gibson told the Register, "a 100 percent hero. He threw himself on an unexploded cluster bomb to save a child and his unit."

A news release on the Central Command Web site said four soldiers were injured when a child attempted to turn over unexploded ordnance. The ordnance exploded when a soldier "attempted to remove it from the child's hand."

The Central Command Web site said three soldiers were taken to medical treatment facilities and a fourth was treated and returned to duty.

The incident is under investigation but officials do not believe the child, who was slightly injured, was part of an attack against the soldiers who were part of a crowd control force, Gibson said.

She said military officials notified her son's wife, Amanda Jenkins, at their California home on Saturday.

Jenkins, a graduate of Hillcrest High in Evergreen, and his wife have two sons, Tristan, 4, and Brandon, 2.

He joined the U.S. Marine Corps at 17 and four years later joined the U.S. Army and trained to be a paratrooper. He also studied Arabic.

"I'm asking for prayers," Gibson said. "Troy's a Christian, and I am so very proud of him. You like to think your children will do the right thing. He did, and he's an absolute hero."

Jenkins was injured last June in Afghanistan when he was grazed by a bullet, she said.

He will be transported to Germany and then to a U.S. hospital for treatment once his injuries are stabilized, officials told the family.