Pfc. Joseph Boyd of Hermitage was one of 14 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division injured Monday in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan.

Boyd, 20, suffered a broken nose in the crash that has been described as a "hard landing," according to his mother.

Mrs. Boyd said her son called home at about 3 a.m. Tuesday -- nearly 16 hours after the crash Monday morning, or early evening in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Terry Davis of Fort Campbell (Ky.) -- where Boyd was trained for Airborne duty -- notified the family of the crash Monday evening and said Boyd would get an opportunity to call home.

During his phone call, Boyd reassured his nervous mother that he was not seriously hurt and described the crash. The crash sounded like more than a hard landing according to his account, his mother said.

"He said the helicopter landed very hard and skidded and flipped, skidded and flipped. Everyone was trapped inside the helicopter until help arrived," Mrs. Boyd said.

"They were on a combat mission, and it was dark outside," Mrs. Boyd said.

The cause of the accident is being investigated, but a spokesman for the 101st Airborne said the pilot apparently failed to see holes in the ground at a landing site due to darkness and dust, the Associated Press reported. A Pentagon official said the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter was ferrying two dozen soldiers to a U.S. Marine Corps encampment near Khost, the AP said.

A spokesman for the 101st Airborne told the AP that the helicopter was on a "combat mission," but did not provide details.

Mrs. Boyd said she had handled the fact that her only son was at war well until this weekend, days before the crash. "I was terrified, and I'm not sure why. I just started praying for him," she said.

Boyd is a 2000 graduate of Hickory High School. He played football and baseball for the Hornets, his mother said.

"We're really happy that he's OK," said his former baseball coach, Gary Hinkson.

"He's a good kid -- a tough kid with a great sense of humor," Hinkson said of Boyd, the starting left-fielder on the 2000 Hornet team that make it to the state quarterfinals.

Mrs. Boyd said she was informed her son will be on light duty until his nose and body heal and then return to his normal duties.