Montana soldier taken off life support Wednesday

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A Fairfield soldier who was critically injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq was taken off of life support Wednesday after being in a coma for more than a week.

Army Sgt. Jimmy McHale, 31, was injured July 22 when a bomb detonated near his Humvee.

“He thought he was Superman,” said his older brother, Michael McHale, an Army tank mechanic in Iraq. “He didn’t think he was going to get hurt. He was over there for everybody else.”

Jimmy McHale, who has been in the military for 11 years, was on his second tour in Iraq. His job of detecting bombs required him to leave the safety of the American military base daily.

The Fairfield High School graduate toyed with the idea of leaving the military to work pyrotechnics for a rock band and talked about buying a house in Florida with a fellow soldier.

Longtime Fairfield High secretary Fran Freeman remembered McHale as quiet, friendly and liked by everybody in his class.

“I’ve been thinking about him ever since I heard what happened,” she said. “I just remember his smile and his laughter.”

McHale’s parents, Joel and Bonnie McHale, flew to a military hospital in Maryland last week to say goodbye to their son. Funeral services are planned for next week.

Tags: military, fairfield, iraq, mchale, montana