U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009, at least 4,352 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 31,545 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department’s weekly tally.

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U.S. Troop Casualties in Iraq

Latest identification:

Army Staff Sgt. Bradley Espinoza, 26, Mission, Texas, died Oct. 19, 2009 in Qwest, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device (reportedly while trying to disarm the bomb). He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan

As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009, at least 814 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

Latest identifications:

Marine Lance Cpl. David R. Baker, 22, Painesville, Ohio, died Oct. 20, 2009 while supporting combat operations in Nawa district, Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Army Spc. Kyle A. Coumas, 22, Lockeford, Calif., died Oct. 21, 2009 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

Army Pfc. Kimble A. Han, 30, Lehi, Utah, died Oct. 23, 2009 in Zhari district, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 569th Mobility Augmentation Company, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colo.

Army Spc. Eric N. Lembke, 25, Tampa, Fla., died Oct. 23, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 569th Mobility Augmentation Company, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colo.

Army Pfc. Devin J. Michel, 19, Stockton, Ill., died Oct. 24, 2009 in Zhari district, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Army Spc. Brandon K. Steffey, 23, Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., died Oct. 25, 2009 in Methar Lam, Laghman province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 178th Military Police Detachment, 89th Military Police Brigade, III Corps, Fort Hood, Texas.

Army Sgt. Eduviges G. Wolf, 24, Hawthorne, Calif., died Oct. 25, 2009 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked her vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade. She was assigned to the 704th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Marine Cpl. Gregory M. W. Fleury, 23, Anchorage, Alaska, died Oct. 26, 2009 at FOB Dwyer, Afghanistan, after a collision between a UH-1 and an AH-1 helicopter in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Marine Capt. Eric A. Jones, 29, Westchester, N.Y., died Oct. 26, 2009 at FOB Dwyer, Afghanistan, after a collision between a UH-1 and an AH-1 helicopter in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Marine Capt. David S. Mitchell, 30, Loveland, Ohio, died Oct. 26, 2009 at FOB Dwyer, Afghanistan, after a collision between a UH-1 and an AH-1 helicopter in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Marine Capt. Kyle R. Van De Giesen, 29, North Attleboro, Mass., died Oct. 26, 2009 at FOB Dwyer, Afghanistan, after a collision between a UH-1 and an AH-1 helicopter in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

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Obama Attends Return of Fallen Troops from Afghanistan

October 29, 2009

The flag-draped cases of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware early Thursday, in a solemn event attended by President Obama.

Also in attendance for the transfer of the bodies were U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Michele Leonhart, acting DEA administrator.

The bodies were of three Drug Enforcement Administration special agents and 15 U.S. troops who died in Afghanistan this week.

The DEA agents were killed Monday as they returned from a raid on a compound believed to be harboring insurgents tied to drug trafficking. Their helicopter with seven troops aboard went down in western Afghanistan.

The military transport that landed in Delaware on Thursday also included the bodies of eight U.S. soldiers killed Tuesday when their vehicles were hit by roadside bombs in two separate incidents in southern Afghanistan.

The soldiers were from the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis in the state of Washington.

The DEA identified the agents killed Monday as Forrest N. Leamon, 37, of Woodbridge, Virginia; Chad L. Michael, 30, of Quantico, Virginia; and Michael E. Weston, 37, of Washington.

Leamon and Michael were members of the DEA’s Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Teams, and Weston was assigned to the agency’s Kabul Country Office.

Full story

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — October 27, 2008

Write-in Campaign: Day 9

One year ago today, on the ninth day of my write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, in line with my focus on national security, I reported that despite millions of dollars of U.S. expenditure in Mosul since 2003 to improve electricity, overhaul army facilities, and rehabilitate schools and other infrastructure, five years of war had reduced much of Iraq’s third-largest city to rubble.

U.S. Army soldiers investigate the site of a car bombing in Mosul, northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008. Five years after the U.S.-led invasion and following a significant drop in violence countrywide over the past year, the battle for Iraq’s third-largest city continues. (Photo credit: Maya Alleruzzo / AP)