This is in an e-mail from my daughter. Linnie was in my daughter's wedding and they have been friends for life. Mark truly is an American hero!!! Mark has served 2 tours of duty in Iraq.

"I just wanted to let everyone of my friends know from the Lousiville area that one of my great friends Linnie Rogers (Bowen), her husband Mark, and their 2 children, Tara & Houston, were in a very serious car wreck a few days ago going back to Austin from IL.  Mark pulled the family from the car and received burns on over 60% of his body.  Their daughter has burns on 50% on one side of her body and Linnie has burns too.  Their son received a huge cut on his head.  Mark & Tara are in the hospital and I think Linnie has went back in also.  Please keep them all in your prayers!!  I have included info sent to me by Mark's cousin."

"The mess on I-40 west near Brinkley is finally cleaned up after Tuesday's fiery crash. The crash involved 8 vehicles, including 6 tractor trailers. Traffic stood at a stand-still for more than 4 hours as crews got people to safety and cleaned up the mess.

Fortunately nobody died in the wreck, but several people were taken to the hospital. One of those taken to the hospital, Mark Rogers, used his Army training to rescue his wife and two young children.

Heavy rains made visibility poor on I-40 in Prairie County. Within minutes 8 vehicles crashed into each other, including 6 semis, stopping traffic on I-40. Christy Bick of Billy's Wrecker Service got to the scene as flames covered several cars.

"One of them was completely burned to the ground. There was nothing left of the tires," said Christy Bick.

In one of those smashed cars was two time Iraqi War Veteran Mark Rogers, his wife, and two young children. They were returning to Austin after visiting family in Illinois.

Mark's aunt, Marcia Fearday, says Mark's military training saved the lives of his wife Linnie, 7-year-old daughter Terra, and 2-year-old son, Houston. "If Mark didn't have the training from the Army, he probably would not have gotten his family out of the car. His training from the army taught him to do the rescue and save his family."

Wednesday, Mark is at Arkansas Children's Hospital's Burn Unit getting treatment for burns to 60 percent of his body. His wife and kids were burned but not as severely as Mark, who Marcia says unselfishly put his family first.

"He automatically busted the windows out of the car and got his family out. Family comes first with him. Mark's a hero because he knew what to do to save his family," said Fearday.

Fearday says Mark is in critical but stable condition. A long recovery is expected but the good news is that the entire family should make a full recovery."

"Hey Guys,

I just heard from my mom about Mark's condition. Mark when into surgery yesterday due to the burns that he recieved. Mark was burnt over 60% of his body. The doctors had to cut holes in to Mark's feet, legs, arms and hands in order to relieve the pressure that the burns were causing.

Tera was burned as well. Tera has burns on about 50% of her right side of her body. She is still in the hospital.

Linnie received burns on her legs, hands and face. She was released from the hospital and is currently with Theresa and David.

Houston did not get burned. He has a large cut on his head. He was kept overnight but, was released.

From what I heard, the wreak was caused when someone was trying to pull to the shoulder during a severe down pour. The truck next to Mark tried to stop and jackknifed causing the wreak. One on the trucks involved in the wreak exploded. Mark was injured getting his family out of the car.

They will likely move Mark and Tera to the burn center in St. Louis so that they can be closer to family while they are healing. However, they can not move them untill they are stable."