U.S. Soldier Killed in Northern Iraq

May 29, 2009

BAGHDAD — An American soldier was killed in a grenade attack in northern Iraq, the military said Friday.

That raises the number of American troop deaths so far in May to at least 21 — the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq since September, when 25 died.

A military statement said the grenade detonated Friday near a patrol in the northern province of Ninevah.

At least 4,303 members of the U.S. military have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. …

——

6/1/09 Update

Iraq civilian deaths fall after April spike, but U.S. military deaths in May rise to at least 24

——

U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Friday, May 29, 2009, at least 4,304 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, 31,285 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department’s weekly tally.

Latest identifications:

Army Spc. David A. Schaefer Jr., 27, Belleville, Ill., died May 16, 2009 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Schweinfurt, Germany.

Army National Guard 1st Lt. Leevi K. Barnard, 28, Mount Airy, N.C., died May 21, 2009 near Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained on dismounted patrol when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using an improvised explosive device. He was a National Guardsman assigned to the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Army National Guard Sgt. Paul F. Brooks, 34, Joplin, Mo., died May 21, 2009 near Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained on dismounted patrol when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 935th Aviation Support Battalion, Springfield, Missouri.

Army Reserve Maj. Jason E. George, 38, Tehachapi, Calif., died May 21, 2009 near Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained on dismounted patrol when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, Fayetteville, North Carolina. [George was a skilled athlete who played rugby, tennis, baseball, soccer, and basketball — and was an undefeated boxer at West Point. He also had a master’s degree from the University of Michigan.]

Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Brian Naseman, 36, New Bremen, Ohio, died May 22, 2009 in Taji, Iraq of a non-combat incident. He was assigned to the 108th Forward Support Company, attached to 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Wisconsin National Guard, Sussex, Wis.

Maged M. Hussein, 43, Cairo, Egypt, died May 25, 2009 in Al Taqaddum, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq. He was employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Jacksonville, Fla.

Navy Cmdr. Duane G. Wolfe, 54, Port Hueneme, Calif., died May 25, 2009 from injuries suffered as a result of an improvised explosive device attack on his convoy southeast of Fallujah. He was assigned as an individual augmentee to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division in Iraq [as officer-in-charge of the Anbar area office, overseeing $300 million worth of construction projects].

Army National Guard Spc. Chad A. Edmundson, 20, Williamsburg, Pa., died May 27, 2009 in Baghdad of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on a dismounted patrol in Abu Ghraib. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry, 56th Stryker Brigade, Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

——

Remember Their Sacrifice

Related links

Iraq Casualties

Afghanistan Casualties

Honor the Fallen

Click to visit the Military Times Hall of Valor

Visit Military Times — The top source for military news

——

Security Developments in Iraq

Following are security developments in Iraq on Friday, May 29, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

MOSUL – A U.S soldier died after a grenade blew up near a patrol in Nineveh province, northern Iraq, the U.S military said. Iraqi police said one civilian was wounded in the attack in western Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad.

KHALIS – A bomb attached to a minibus killed six civilians in Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

KHALIS – A bomb attached to a car in Khalis killed one person and wounded three others, police said.

MOSUL – Gunmen stormed a family home and shot dead a woman and her daughter on Thursday in eastern Mosul, police said.

TELKEIF – Police on Thursday said they found the body of man in Telkeif, north of Mosul, adding that the man had been dead for at least a few days.

MOSUL – Gunmen shot and killed a woman on Thursday in northern Mosul, police said.

KIRKUK – A joint Iraqi army and U.S military forces operation resulted in the detention of 20 suspected insurgents on Thursday in southwest Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

BAQUBA – A bomb planted on a motorbike killed a leader of a state-backed anti-insurgent militia and wounded three other militia men, as well as two civilians in northeast Baquba, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said.

Following are security developments in Iraq on Thursday, May 28, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

FALLUJA – The U.S. military identified one of its members killed alongside two U.S. government employees in a roadside bomb blast in Falluja, 32 miles west of Baghdad, as U.S. Navy commander Duane G. Wolfe. Wolfe was in charge of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in western Anbar province.

KERBALA – Iraqi forces arrested an Iraqi official of the Kuwaiti firm Zain, which has operations in Iraq, with four members of his family in Kerbala, 50 miles southwest of Baghdad, police said.

BAQUBA – The Iraqi army arrested a leader of a state-backed anti-insurgent militia from his home in Baquba, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said. The militiamen are mostly Sunni Muslims.

MOSUL – A roadside bomb wounded a woman member of Mosul’s provincial council, her driver and three civilians in northern Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK – Police found the body of man killed a few days earlier in northern Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

Following are security developments in Iraq on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

BAGHDAD – A U.S. soldier died of wounds sustained after a roadside bomb detonated near a U.S. patrol in western Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD – A car bomb targeting a U.S. military patrol killed four civilians and wounded 12 others in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib district, on the western outskirts of the capital, police said.

MOSUL – Gunmen shot dead a man in a drive-by shooting near his house in eastern Mosul, police said.

BAGHDAD – A mortar shell killed three people and wounded eight at a busy intersection in southeastern Baghdad’s Fedhaliya neighborhood on Tuesday, police said.

MOSUL – A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed one soldier in Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.

MOSUL – A woman was killed in crossfire between the Iraqi army and gunmen in Mosul on Tuesday, police said.

Following are security developments in Iraq on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

MOSUL – A roadside bomb wounded two policemen when it struck their patrol in western Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

ISKANDARIYA – A bomb attached to a parked car wounded two bankers as they were leaving a government bank in Iskandariya, 25 miles, south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD – A bomb killed three people and wounded another two when it struck a convoy carrying U.S. officials and civilian contractors visiting a construction site in Falluja, 30 miles west of Baghdad, on Monday, the U.S. military said.

JALAWLA – Iraqi police captured the brother of Omar al- Baghdadi, the alleged head of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda linked group, in Jalawla, 70 miles, northeast of Baghdad, said Diyala province police chief Major-General Abdul-Hussein al-Shammari. A man police say is Baghdadi is currently also in detention, although his identity is unverified.

KIRKUK – A roadside bomb wounded two Iraqi army officers and a soldier when it struck their convoy in southern Kirkuk, 155 miles, north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK – Gunmen shot dead a taxi driver in front of his house in southeastern Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK – Gunmen killed three members of a family during a raid on their house in a village southwest of Kirkuk, north of Baghdad on Monday, police said.

Following are security developments in Iraq on Monday, May 25, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

MOSUL – A sniper shot dead an Iraqi soldier who was standing at a checkpoint in eastern Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL – Gunmen in a car killed a civilian in western Mosul, police said.

BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces killed two militants and wounded two others during a raid on their house in eastern Baghdad, police said.

Following are security developments in Iraq on Sunday, May 24, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

MOSUL – Gunmen stormed a family home and shot dead a woman and her daughter in western Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL – Gunmen shot dead a Kurdish woman in her home in eastern Mosul, police said.

ISKANDARIYA – Gunmen opened fire on a government-backed Sunni militia checkpoint on Saturday night, wounding one fighter in Iskandariya, 25 miles south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol wounded one policeman and two civilians in Adhamiya district, northern Baghdad, police said.