A Christmas Day attack on Erbil Air Base in Iraq injured three U.S. service members, including Garrett Illerbrunn, an Army pilot from Fort Liberty in North Carolina, according to the Department of Defense and a fundraiser set up by friends of the family.
Illerbrunn was evacuated from the country in critical condition, the Defense Department said.
A friend of the family said Illerbrunn is beginning to recover at a hospital in Germany and will be transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Illerbrunn is in for a long recovery after being hit in the head with a piece of shrapnel during the attack, Melissa Young said.
The attack on the base in northern Iraq came from Iran-affiliated Kataib Hezbollah militants, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The U.S. military retaliated with strikes on three facilities in the region, he said.
The assault on the base is one of a series of attacks on U.S. service members in Iraq and Syria since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Isreal and Isreal's invasion of Gaza.
"On Christmas Day, 2023, Garrett was one of three US soldiers injured in a drone attack on a base in northern Iraq," according to a GoFundMe fundraiser set up for the family. "While his prognosis is unknown and ever-changing, we as the organizers want to be able to prepare for the Illerbrunn's as much as possible in their difficult time."
Illerbrunn's wife and son were visiting family when they got the news of the Christmas Day attack, according to the fundraiser. Illerbrunn's wife, Lorna, traveled to Germany to be with him after he was evacuated.
"Lorna was able to travel to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany where Garrett was transported from Baghdad, Iraq. She has been able to meet his medical team, be present for updates, surgeries and talks to him daily to update him on the incredible world-wide support," said Young, a friend of the family who set up the GoFundMe.
"During the drone attack, a piece of shrapnel struck Garrett in the head, lodging from about his temple to almost the back end of his ear; hitting the motor function area of his brain," she said.
She said he has been breathing on his own today but is still in a coma.
"After an attempt to take off sedation, there was some response in facial movement -a beacon of hope for his recovery. As of an hour ago he was taken off of sedation and withdrew from pain in one arm," Young said in an email.
"He will be transported to Walter Reed for continued recovery but the family is in for an Ultra Marathon, not a 5k," she said.
Officials in Illerbrunn's native North Dakota posted tributes to the soldier online.
"Please join us in praying for a full recovery for U.S. Army pilot and Langdon, ND, native Garrett Illerbrunn, who was seriously injured in a drone attack Monday in Iraq. Today we shared gratitude with his father, Brad, for his son's courageous service," North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The family lives in Pinehurst, near Fort Liberty, according to the fundraiser. The GoFundMe fundraiser has raised more than $50,000 for the family as of Tuesday morning. Organizers say it will go to helping outfit the family's house to help care for Illerbrunn when he gets home and to finish work on a treehouse the soldier promised to have built for his son.
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