06/23/2009

Associated Press

A Fort Lewis chaplain who was critically injured by a roadside bomb five years ago in Iraq has died.

The 49-year-old Catholic priest known as Father Tim, Rev. Tim Vakoc (VAHK'-itch), died at Saturday at a nursing home in New Hope, Minn.

The blast on May 29, 2004, cost him an eye and severely damaged his brain. At the time, the U.S. Central Command said he was believed to be the first chaplain wounded in Iraq.

His funeral is scheduled for Friday at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Piek who served with Vakoc in Iraq told The News Tribune of Tacoma "He was universally known and universally loved by the soldiers."

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Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com