Walker Marine shot in combat

Staff Reports

Marine Staff Sgt. Tim "Coop" Cooper, 37, is recuperating at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, after being shot May 17 while serving his second tour of duty in that country.

Cooper, previously from Fallon, recently, a resident of Walker, Calif. and the Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, was shot while traveling in a helicopter about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday morning.

"I was heading out on a CH-47 (helicopter) after a 36-day patrol when we took ground fire from the mountain side and I took one in the back of my chest," Cooper said. "The round went through the helo first, so it was tumbling when it hit me. It entered my back sideways and broke a rib and my shoulder blade and collapsed my lung. The round stopped just under the skin under my right armpit," he said.

"The doc cut it out and now I have it with some of the copper jacket he dug out in surgery. I'm OK," Cooper said, "I walked off the bird on my own and into the army aid station on my own, then I collapsed."

Cooper has been assigned light duty until June 21 doing desk work at Bagram Air Base.

"I worked a deal with the doc so he would not send me to Germany," Cooper said. "I have to stay here under his post op care for 30 days before I get to go back down range and link up with my Combat Advisor team."

This is Cooper's second tour of duty in Afghanistan. He has served 19 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.