O'ahu soldier injured in Iraq

Associated Press

A soldier from Hawai'i is in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, recovering from burns he received last weekend in Iraq.

Vanessa Gandy of O'ahu, the mother of Spc. Sean Mohika, said Wednesday that the Army told her he had been upgraded to very seriously injured after initially being in critical condition. Gandy said she didn't have the exact details of how her 21-year-old son was injured Saturday.

"They said that Sean and two other soldiers were walking by a bunker building. Something ignited. They were burned," she said.

Mohika, a helicopter mechanic with the 101st Airborne Division, joined the Army after graduating from 'Aiea High School in 1999.

Mohika's father left for Texas Wednesday night, and Gandy said she will follow.