Surgery for Windsor soldier who survived Iraq bombing

An Army survivor of a roadside bombing in Iraq underwent surgery Tuesday in Washington, D.C., while funeral arrangements were announced for a fellow soldier who died in the same incident last week.

Sgt. Daniel Nevins, 31, of Windsor was in the first of what likely will be a series of medical operations at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, said his wife, Nicole Nevins.

Nicole Nevins was scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C., today and planned to go straight to the hospital.

"I am hanging in there, but I will be a lot better when I am with Dan again," she said in a message to friends and relatives.

Nevins lost his left foot and suffered a shrapnel wound to his left thigh in the explosion, which also fractured both lower bones of his right leg.

Killed in the blast on Nov. 10 was Sgt. 1st Class Michael Ottolini, 45, of Sebastopol, who left behind a wife, Sharon, and two grown children, Darrell Ottolini and Stephanie Coleman.

Ottolini's body was en route Tuesday from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to Sonoma County.

Both soldiers were among about 90 members of Petaluma-based A Company of the California National Guard's 579th Engineer Battalion sent to Iraq in March.

A memorial service for Ottolini with full military honors will be conducted at 11 a.m. Sunday at Pleasant Hills Chapel, 1700 Pleasant Hill Road, Sebastopol. The public is invited to the memorial service and a subsequent reception at the National Guard Armory in Santa Rosa, according to Ottolini's family and National Guard officials.

Burial will be private.

Nicole Nevins gave the following account of the fatal incident at 4:15 a.m. Iraq time on Nov. 10:

Four soldiers were in an armored Humvee, driven by Ottolini, departing from Camp Anaconda on a 48-hour mission. A Company has been stationed at Camp Anaconda, a sprawling American military base about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

Nevins was sitting directly behind Ottolini and there were two other soldiers in the Humvee's passenger seats. The vehicle was one kilometer from Camp Anaconda when a large explosive went off in the road directly under the driver's seat.

The other two soldiers were not injured, Nicole Nevins said. "Dan said it could have been a lot worse if the explosive hit the gas tank," she said.

Nevins, who worked as a pharmaceutical company sales representative, joined the Army out of high school and enlisted in the Army Reserves after completing a four-year tour. He was called to active duty last December and went to Iraq with the 579th.

Ottolini, who grew up in Santa Rosa and Guerneville, worked as a hay truck driver. He joined the 579th nearly 28 years ago and had retired once, but rejoined within a year.

The other members of A Company are scheduled to complete a year's duty in Iraq and return home between April and June.