RALEIGH, N.C. — An 82nd Airborne pilot badly injured in a drone strike on Christmas Day in Iraq is awake, family members told WRAL News.
Garrett Illerbrunn, who turned 41 on Sunday, is stationed out of Fort Liberty. He lives in Pinehurst with his wife, Lorna, and 8-year-old son, Tucker.
On Christmas Day, he was serving at Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq when the base came under attack. A close family friend told WRAL News that Illerbrunn suffered a severe head injury during the attack.
On Tuesday, loved ones told WRAL News that Illerbrunn is out of the ICU and can communicate with physical cues “to some extent.”
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