"Clink, boom" was the sound Pfc. Thomas Ponce heard as a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into his Humvee just above the windshield Saturday in Sadr City, Iraq.

The 2006 Maui High School graduate described the explosion to his mother, Jean Ponce of Kahului, in a phone call yesterday from a U.S. military hospital in Lundstuhl, Germany. Ponce, 19, suffered shrapnel wounds to his face and hands, and is awaiting surgery on his right eye, his mother said.

Ponce — known as "Poncho" to his fellow soldiers but as "T.J." at home — said his gunner, 21-year-old Spc. Benjamin West of Tempe, Ariz., helped him to safety. West suffered light shrapnel wounds, and the two were taken in a medevac helicopter to Ibn Sina Hospital in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.

According to an Associated Press report, Ponce groaned in pain as doctors and nurses in the emergency room removed a clear plastic shield that had been put over his bleeding face. As he waited for further treatment — delirious and in shock — he screamed: "RPG, RPG, incoming RPG."

West propped himself up on one elbow in his bed and tried to comfort his friend, saying: "Poncho, there's no RPG. You're all right."

Yesterday, the Maui soldier was in good spirits, Jean Ponce said, despite uncertainty over whether his injuries will keep him from future military duty.

"He was happy that he had all his limbs. He said, 'I have all my fingers and toes,'" she said.

Ponce already was thinking about what he might do if he is discharged, but he also expressed a desire to return to his mission in Iraq, his mother said. "He wanted to go back and help his battle buddies," she said.

The Maui soldier is assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division out of Ft. Bragg, N.C. He was eager to join the Army, signing up for a three-year commitment while still a junior in high school.

"He felt like he wanted to do something after 9/11 to help," his mother said. "I asked him if there was anything else he was interested in, and we went through all the occupations, but he just wanted to go help do something for his country."

Ponce, whose father is Wayne Ponce of Pukalani, was able to spend Christmas at home, and the family enjoyed a trip to Las Vegas before the call came on Dec. 27 to report to Fort Bragg to await deployment. His unit shipped out to Kuwait on Jan. 3, and two weeks later he was in Iraq.

Ponce would call home requesting smoked fish and nori, or to ask for money to buy phone cards, Jean Ponce said.

"He missed home, but he didn't really talk about (his Iraq duty). I wouldn't ask; I was just happy to hear his voice," she said.

Ponce's tour of duty was supposed to run until the end of 2007, but was extended to April 2008, his mother said. He was scheduled for leave in June, when he was planning to visit Maui.

Jean Ponce said she received a call on Saturday from a lieutenant informing her that her son had been wounded. The Maui soldier was flown to Germany on Sunday and she was able to talk to him briefly, although he was groggy from morphine, she said. Ponce is expected to be flown Friday to North Carolina to undergo eye surgery, his mother said.

While in high school, Ponce played soccer and worked out a lot to get in shape for the military. "He was psyched to go into the Army. It was hard for me, but that's all he wanted to do," she said.

Ponce has a 16-year-old brother at Maui High who is not interested in the military, his mother said. "They're complete opposites," she said.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.