A McMinnville man arrested in connection with a stabbing off Highway 56 last week is a war hero who lost both his legs in Iraq and recently had a bridge named in his honor.

According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, 30-year-old Eric Dewayne Frazier was arrested after an incident on McMinnville Highway. The victim, whose name was not released, was airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga with a stab wound to his left side.

According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, Eric Dewayne Frazier, 30, of McMinnville faces a charge of aggravated assault after the sheriff’s department arrested him in connection with a stabbing at a McMinnville Highway home.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga with a stab wound to his left side. Ray said a call was placed to central dispatch at 1:42 p.m. Monday reporting a stabbing.

Ray said an altercation occurred between two men, and one stabbed the other. “Officers arrived at 1:51 p.m. and found the victim, who had a stab wound to the left side of his body,” the sheriff said.

Witnesses allegedly told officers that Frazier was told to leave the property by the homeowner, and an argument between Frazier and another person at the residence ensued. “The altercation became physical, and Frazier stabbed the victim in the left side of his body with a knife,” Ray said. “The victim suffered serious bodily injury, causing him to be airlifted to the hospital.”

Frazier reportedly admitted to detectives during an interview that he had stabbed the victim.

His bond was set at $10,000, and he will appear in court on Nov. 10.

Frazier’s Humvee hit an IED in Iraq in Oct. 2006, and two of his fellow soldiers were killed. In an interview with the Southern Standard in January 2007, Frazier said he died on the way to a medical facility in Iraq, but medical personnel were able to bring him back to life.

As a result of the explosion, Frazier had one leg amputated above the knee and one amputated below the knee. He also suffered two breaks of his pelvis, a broken jaw, and a lacerated kidney and liver.

Frazier, a 2004 graduate of Warren County High School, was deployed to Iraq as a member of the Marine Corps Reserve. He has served as the guest speaker at many Veterans Day programs in his hometown in recent years.

A bridge was dedicated in Frazier’s honor on the new four-lane between McMinnville and Woodbury in July.