The Toll Grows Higher

[STING2]

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq


Mar 31, 5:15 PM (ET)

By The Associated Press

As of Wednesday, March 31, 590 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq a year ago, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 399 died as a result of hostile action and 191 died of non-hostile causes, the department said.

The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 17; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, five; Ukraine, three; Thailand, two; Denmark, Estonia and Poland have reported one each.

Since May 1, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 452 U.S. soldiers have died - 284 as a result of hostile action and 168 of non-hostile causes, according to the military.

Since the start of military operations, 3,013 U.S. service members have been injured as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. Non-hostile injured numbered 444.

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The latest deaths reported by the military:

- Five 1st Infantry Division soldiers were killed Wednesday when a bomb exploded under their vehicle in Malahma, northwest of Fallujah, Iraq.

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The latest identifications reported by the military:

- Army Spc. E-4 Jeremiah Holmes, 27, North Berwick, Maine; died Tuesday when his vehicle ran over a bomb in Ramadi, west of Baghdad; assigned to 744th Transportation Company, New Hampshire Army National Guard, Hillsboro, N.H.

- Army Pfc. Sean M. Schneider, 22, Janesville, Wis.; died Monday as the result of a vehicle accident near Baghdad; assigned to the 115th Forward Support Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas.

[MrsSpringsteen]

Some more about Jeremiah Holmes..

Thursday, April 1, 2004

North Berwick soldier dies when bomb hits truck

By KEVIN WACK, Portland Press Herald


NORTH BERWICK — A National Guard soldier from Maine who arrived in Iraq just two weeks ago was killed when an explosive device knocked his tractor-trailer off a bridge, officials said Wednesday.

Spc. Jeremiah J. Holmes, 27, a member of the New Hampshire Army National Guard who lived in North Berwick, was part of a convoy delivering supplies to Marines on Monday when the device detonated west of Baghdad, in Ramadi, a Guard spokesman said.

Another passenger in the tractor-trailer, Sgt. Randal S. Frotton of Newmarket, N.H., suffered injuries to his ribs and an ankle.

Both soldiers belonged to the New Hampshire Guard's 744th Transportation Company, which was deployed for training at Fort Drum, N.Y., in early December. The company arrived in Iraq in mid-March.

Holmes is the first New Hampshire National Guard soldier killed in action in Iraq, said Capt. Greg Heilshorn, a spokesman. Two of the company's 150 members were injured a week earlier in a similar roadside bombing.

Ramadi is part of the area known as the Sunni Triangle, where insurgents' attacks have come become bolder and more frequent in recent weeks.

Family members were notified of Holmes' death Tuesday. For Dick Allard, Holmes' grandfather, the tragedy brought back memories of the murder of his daughter in 1990.

When Jeremiah Holmes was just 13, his mother, Sheila, was beaten, strangled and left near railroad tracks in Dover, N.H. A Somersworth, N.H., man now serving life without parole for another murder is the chief suspect but was not charged.

On Wednesday, family members gathered at Allard's home in North Berwick, where Holmes was raised following his mother's death. Beside the house, an Uncle Sam lawn ornament clutched an American flag. Callers to the Holmes home were still greeted, after several rings, by the soldier's recorded voice.

Relatives said they were not ready to talk publicly about the loss of the soldier they called Jay. But neighbors and others offered a picture of a fun-loving, patriotic man who was devoted to his wife and his 11-month-old son.

Holmes joined the Army after graduating from Noble High School in 1994. He served five years on active duty and joined the Army Reserve in 1999.

"I can tell you that he was very well liked among the soldiers in his unit, well respected," Heilshorn said.

Holmes and his wife, Kimberly, lived in a home just up the street from his grandfather's house. When his company was deployed, the couple were raising their son, Kaleb, and a pug named Jo Jo.

The puppy's breeder, Laurie McCabe, and her husband, David, live across Prospect Street. Both remembered their late friend fondly.

"Jay was an incredibly sweet person," Laurie McCabe said. "He'd talk to you any time - and really listened to you."

McCabe noted wistfully that she'll never again hear Holmes riding his Harley-Davidson.

"You could just tell he loved working on that bike," she said.

Holmes shipped out for Fort Drum two weeks before Christmas, when his son was just 8 months old.

At the departure ceremony, Kimberly Holmes was asked how she felt about her husband's deployment.

"Not good. I feel bad for the baby," she told Foster's Daily Democrat.

Recalling the timing of Holmes' deployment, David McCabe said, "I know he thought it was one of the worst times to leave . . . But he wanted to serve his country."

Laurie McCabe recalled how Holmes tried to remain strong, since his wife worried about him being in harm's way.

"He would just say over and over again that it's going to be harder on Kim than it is on me," McCabe said. "But he never talked about his fears."

In January, Kimberly Holmes told Foster's Daily Democrat, "Every time I talk to him, he just says, 'I wish it was over.' "

The 744th Transportation Company, which is headquartered in Hillsboro, N.H., was mobilized for as long as 18 months to transport dry and refrigerated goods, water, general cargo and gasoline to ground units. Both Holmes and Frotton were part of a detachment based in Somersworth.



Spc. Jeremiah Holmes of North Berwick kisses his son, Kaleb, while his wife, Kimberly, watches in this Dec. 11, 2003, photo

[STING2]

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq


Apr 1, 8:31 PM (ET)

By The Associated Press

As of Thursday, April 1, 596 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq a year ago, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 404 died as a result of hostile action and 192 died of non-hostile causes, the department said.

The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 17; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, five; Ukraine, three; Thailand, two; Denmark, Estonia and Poland have reported one each.

Since May 1, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 458 U.S. soldiers have died - 289 as a result of hostile action and 169 of non-hostile causes, according to the military.

Since the start of military operations, 3,022 U.S. service members have been injured as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. Non-hostile injured numbered 444.

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The latest deaths reported by the military:

_No deaths reported.

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The latest identifications reported by the military and family members:

- Army Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson, 45, Conway, N.H.; died Tuesday in a vehicle accident in Iraq; assigned to 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, Colo.

- Army Pvt. Brandon Lee Davis, 20, Cresaptown, Md.; among five soldiers killed Wednesday when a bomb exploded under his vehicle near Fallujah; assigned to 1st Engineer Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

[MrsSpringsteen]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Four US troops were killed in the past 24 hours in combat in Iraq, including one Marine and a soldier who died Monday in separate attacks, raising to 11 the number killed since Sunday, the US military said.

"One Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Division has been killed as a result of enemy action in Al-Anbar province today," the military said, adding that a US soldier also died Monday of wounds received Sunday during clashes with radical Shiite militants in Baghdad.

Another seven soldiers were killed in the same clashes in the northern Baghdad suburb of Sadr City.

A US soldier was also killed near the northern oil center of Mosul on Sunday in a bomb attack, while the fourth American from the 1st Infantry Division died in a car bomb attack near the police academy of Kirkuk, also in northern Iraq.

[STING2]

U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq


Apr 5, 11:44 PM (ET)

By The Associated Press


As of Monday, April 5, 607 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 417 died as a result of hostile action and 190 died of non-hostile causes.

The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 17; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, five; Ukraine, three; Thailand, two; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia and Poland have reported one each.

Since May 1, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 469 U.S. soldiers have died - 308 as a result of hostile action and 161 of non-hostile causes, according to the military.

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The latest deaths reported by the military:

- A Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Division died Monday from hostile action in Iraq's Anbar province.

- A 1st Armored Division soldier died Monday of wounds received Sunday while fighting Shiite militiamen in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, Iraq.

- A soldier died Sunday afternoon from an attack with an explosive near Mosul, Iraq.

- A 1st Infantry Division soldier died Sunday afternoon in an attack with an explosive near Kirkuk, Iraq.

- U.S. Central Command said Monday that reports of a U.S. soldier's death in Najaf on Sunday were incorrect. A soldier was wounded in the attack. The Spanish defense ministry had reported the death.

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The latest identifications reported by the military:

- Army Pfc. John D. Amos II, 22, Valparaiso, Ind.; died Sunday when an explosive hit his vehicle in Kirkuk; assigned to 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

- Marine Lance Cpl. Aric J. Barr, 22, Allegheny, Pa.; died Saturday from hostile action in Anbar province; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

- Marine Pfc. Geoffrey S. Morris, 19, Gurnee, Ill.; died Sunday from hostile action in Anbar province; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

- Army Spc. Philip G. Rogers, 23, Gresham, Ore.; died Sunday in Mosul, Iraq, when an explosive hit his vehicle; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

- Marine Pfc. Dustin M. Sekula, 18, Edinburg, Texas; died Thursday from hostile fire in Anbar province; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

[nbcrusader]

U.S. Marines pray over a fallen comrade at a first aid point after he died from wounds suffered in fighting in Fallujah, Iraq

RIP

[MrsSpringsteen]

That picture is heartbreaking, but thanks for posting it

[BAW]

I live in a very small town and this is our first casualty....we didn't know him personally but he grew up just a few blocks from where we live and attended the same high school my kids have all gone to.

Placentia wife loses soulmate to war

Kelli Harrell first met Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Harrell when they were youngsters.

By GREG HARDESTY THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

PLACENTIA A wife, her 7-year-old son and an entire neighborhood in Placentia were mourning the loss Friday of Staff Sgt. William M. Harrell, killed Thursday in fierce fighting in Iraq during a week that claimed 20 members of the Camp Pendleton based 1 st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Harrell, 30, a 1992 graduate of El Dorado High School, grew up on McCormack Lane, where his future wife, Kelli, met him when he was 5 and she was an older lady of 9. "He seemed to leave a piece of himself with everyone he knew," Kelli Harrell, 34, said Friday night. "Everybody loved him. And he was the best husband anyone could ever ask for. "We were soulmates. He was my entire world."

That world collapsed when authorities told Harrell that her husband of nearly a decade died during surgery about 4 a.m. local time Thursday after being shot in the neck – the sixth serviceman from Orange County to die since the Iraq invasion.

Kelli Harrell was returning home from her son Austin’s soccer practice when she saw the government vehicle outside her Camp Pendleton home. "They were waiting for me," she said. "I knew."

It took her about an hour to break the news to her son. "You know how every day we say daddy is in our minds and always in our hearts, and that he will always be there? " she asked Austin. "Yes," he said. "Well, honey, daddy’s not coming home this time. He was killed in Iraq." "If he just got shot, can’t they help him? " "Daddy can’t be helped right now," she said. "Daddy’s with God." Just the day before, Bill Harrell – an avid surfer and snowboarder – called his wife from a borrowed phone. He was sent to Iraq in early March to oversee a platoon of 60 Marines in Bravo Company. "I could hear him crying," his wife recalled. "I asked him what was wrong." "Nothing," he said. "I’m just glad to hear your voice." "What’s wrong? " "I’m fine. I love you." Friday evening, in a note he passed to his mother during a telephone interview, Austin wrote: "My dad was a great citizen."

Bill Harrell’s sister, Cassie Winter, 28, of Oregon, said: "Kelli and Austin were his world. "My brother died a hero – he died doing what he loved."

Harrell, a tanned, rock-solid 5-foot-9, 155-pound Marine with dark hair and brown eyes with long lashes, was raised, along with his sister, by his uncle, Bernie Robertson, 60, of Placentia. Their mother died at age 34; their father, William F. Harrell, a retired Marine, lived out of state. He died last year in a storm in Texas at age 51. At El Dorado High, Bill Harrell was a varsity football, baseball and soccer player. He joined the Marines straight out of high school. "He just always wanted to be one," Winter said.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

FAMILY: Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Harrell is seen with his son Austin, now 7, in this 2003 photo. Harrell died Thursday in Iraq.


NOVEMBER: Kelli Harrell with her husband, Staff Sgt. William M. Harrell, at the Marine Ball.

[verte76]

[MrsSpringsteen]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast....ap/index.html



The Witmer family shares a hug on December 7. Michelle, right, was killed Friday in Iraq

[MrsSpringsteen]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb attack on a U.S. convoy killed one American soldier early on Tuesday and wounded another soldier as well as a civilian contractor, the U.S. army said.

An army spokesman said the convoy, traveling from Baquba to Najaf, was hit just after midnight by a roadside bomb planted south of Baghdad. The wounded were taken on to Najaf and were in a stable condition.

U.S. troops based north of the capital have been shifting further south to reinforce other foreign troops in the U.S.-led coalition facing an insurgency by Shi'ite Muslim militants loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The United States has said it will kill or capture Sadr, who is thought to be in Najaf.

[Scarletwine]

http://www.duckdaotsu.org/rows.htm

[MrsSpringsteen]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military added a dozen more troops to the war's death roster over the weekend, bringing to 701 the number of American service members killed since March of last year, 505 of them in combat.

April's death toll for U.S. forces stood at 100 on Monday.

The latest fighting included a fierce engagement Saturday between Marines and insurgents near Iraq's border with Syria.

The U.S. casualties announced Sunday included five Marines killed when a patrol came under attack by 120 to 150 insurgents with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades near the town of Husaybah close to the Syrian border, the Marines said. The Marines estimated 25 to 30 insurgents were killed in the attack.

Elsewhere, three U.S. soldiers were killed Saturday when their 1st Armored Division convoy was ambushed near the southern Iraqi town of Diwaniyah.

A ninth American, assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit, was killed Saturday in fighting west of Baghdad in the violent Anbar province.

Officials announced three more deaths Sunday. A U.S. soldier was killed and two others injured Saturday when their tank rolled over in north Baghdad, and another soldier died of wounds received Saturday in a roadside bombing. A third soldier was electrocuted Saturday while working on a generator north of Baghdad.

[Dreadsox]

Pat Tillman, Who Left NFL for Army in 2002, Killed in Action
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Pat Tillman, the former National Football League safety who left the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was killed in action in Afghanistan, the NFL said.

Tillman, 27, told the Cardinals after returning from his honeymoon in May 2002 that he was joining the Army with his brother in the hopes of becoming a Ranger. Kevin Tillman gave up a minor league baseball career in the Cleveland Indians organization.

The brothers completed basic and advanced infantry training in October 2002 and graduated from the Ranger Indoctrination Program in December 2002. They joined the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Benning, Georgia.

U.S. Central Command declined immediate comment and didn't immediately return a telephone message from Bloomberg News seeking comment.

[MrsSpringsteen]

I was just reading about Pat Tillman-what a man he must have been

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...led/index.html

[Headache in a Suitcase]

passed up a 9 million dollar contract from the rams to sign up for the army after 9/11. what a great great man. he will be missed.

[MrsSpringsteen]

[MrsSpringsteen]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An explosion leveled part of a building as American troops searched it for suspected production of "chemical munitions," a U.S. general said. Two soldiers were killed and five wounded in the blast, and a cheering mob of Iraqis looted their wrecked Humvees, stripping away weapons and equipment.

[nbcrusader]

'Nightline' to honor U.S. military dead

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ted Koppel will devote the entire half-hour of "Nightline" Friday to reading names and showing photographs of the more than 500 U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq, ABC announced Wednesday.

Each service member's photo will be shown, along with his or her name, military branch, rank and age as Koppel reads the name aloud. Since the ABC News broadcast is just 30 minutes, it will include only those killed in action in Iraq since March 19, 2003, as certified by the Defense Department.

The network will use photos and information from the Army Times Publishing Company's online "Faces of Valor" database.

"Memorial Day might have been the most logical occasion on which to do this program," Koppel said. "But we felt that the impact would actually be greater on a day when the entire nation is not focused on its war dead."

ABC News will simulcast the program live on its Jumbotron screen in Times Square, and ABC News Radio will air excerpts, the network said.

[MrsSpringsteen]

I heard about that this morning, I'm going to tape it and make sure I see and concentrate on each and every one. It's the least I can do