ISP trooper on the mend after being injured in Iraq

An Idaho State Police trooper injured in Iraq is now recovering in a hospital in Germany.

Eric Stroh was deployed in western Iraq with other Hayden-based members of the 321st Engineer Division of the U.S. Army Reserve earlier this week when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle.

Stroh suffered a compound fracture to his shin and injuries to his hand, said his girlfriend, Melissa Stoker, who also works for the Idaho State Police’s Coeur d’Alene office.

The injuries are not life-threatening, and Stroh will undergo surgery on his leg within 48 hours, Stoker said.

She talked to him briefly via satellite phone after the blast, when all he said was, “I’m OK.”

Then Stoker talked to Stroh again once he made it to the hospital in Germany.

“It’s a relief,” she said, adding that doctors can’t say now if there will be any long-term effects to his injuries. It’s unlikely he will return to Iraq.

Army Reserve officials did not return calls about the explosion, and it’s unclear whether other soldiers were injured in the blast.