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HILL AIR FORCE BASE — After receiving several traumatic brain injuries during two deployments, a Hill Air Force Base airman is being awarded the purple heart on March 25.
Technical Sgt. Gabriel Wasnuk joined the Air Force because he was “tired of college and looking for a career,” according to a Hill Air Force Base news release. He became part of the 775th Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight, working as a technician to investigate and disarm improvised explosive devices in combat conditions.
Wasnuk deployed to Iraq in 2006. He said he was kept busy with assignments ranging from interviewing locals to rendering unexploded mortar rounds.
"We had three teams and we'd rotate calls,” Wasnuk said in the release. “We tried to make sure everyone had a little down time, but there were a lot of times where we went out on multiple calls a day. I got a thrill every time we'd get a call, but it takes a toll. You're constantly operating with a heightened sense of awareness."
Three months into the deployment, Wasnuk's team was returning from a mission in Buhriz when a suicide bomber launched a vehicle carrying a 400-pound bomb into the convoy, the Air Force said. Wasnuk and his team were inside a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle during the blast and no one was killed. However, he received the first of his traumatic brain injuries during the explosion.
"Everything went a little hazy,” he said. “My ears were ringing. I wasn't unconscious, but I couldn't comprehend what was going on. Someone else in the MRAP had to take over as team chief.”
For nearly two hours, the team took and returned enemy fire in all directions, but finally a tank and helicopter arrived and transported the team to safety. Wasnuk said he knew something was wrong, but he didn’t want to report it because he was worried he would be taken off duty.
Wasnuk went on another patrol later that evening and another IED detonated 50 meters from his position, causing additional trauma to his brain injury, the Air Force said. Wasnuk survived a total of five IED blasts in Iraq and didn’t report his symptoms until his roommate forced him to go to the clinic. Wasnuk said his roommate had told him that he hadn’t responded to his name being called for 10 minutes.
I still didn't want to believe anything was wrong (with traumatic brain injuries or post traumatic stress,), but because of everything I had been through, I was strongly encouraged to seek help. I want to encourage other people with similar experiences to also seek help.
–Tech. Sgt. Gabriel Wasnuk
"My memory was diminished, along with my hearing and my vision," Wasnuk said. "Little by little, they started to get better, but they never returned to a normal level. My ears still ring and I get headaches constantly."
Wasnuk underwent several tests and had five weeks of down time, but he eventually returned to duty. However, he was sent home within a month.
"I didn't recognize it, but I had post-traumatic stress,” he said.
In 2009, Wasnuk deployed for a second time, this time to Afghanistan. During his duties, his team was called in to check out a vehicle that had been rigged with hundreds of pounds of liquid explosives. While they were carrying out their procedures, the bomb went off. Wasnuk survived the blast, but later that day, he couldn’t even remember his address. He was diagnosed with a second traumatic brain injury and returned home in January 2010.
Wasnuk began receiving treatments and in 2013, he began having seizures as a result of the brain injuries.
"I still didn't want to believe anything was wrong (with traumatic brain injuries or post traumatic stress,), but because of everything I had been through, I was strongly encouraged to seek help," Wasnuk said. "I want to encourage other people with similar experiences to also seek help."
Wasnuk remained in the military, but because of the continuing symptoms from his brain injuries, his future in the Air Force is uncertain, the Air Force said. Because of his valor during his service, he is being awarded the purple heart on March 25.
The purple heart is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded in combat by the hands of the enemy, and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die from wounds received in combat.
