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Apr 13th, 2010


U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Tuesday, April 13, 2010, at least 4,390 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, 31,770 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department’s most recent weekly tally, April 6, 2010.

Multimedia
U.S. Troop Casualties in Iraq

Latest identifications:


Army Reserve Sgt. Kurt E. Kruize, 35, Hancock/St. Cloud, Minn., died April 4, 2010 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered in a noncombat-related accident. He was assigned to the 367th Engineer Battalion, St. Cloud, Minn.


Army Spc. William A. Blount, 21, Petal, Miss., died April 7, 2010 in Mosul, Iraq, when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Ga.


Army 1st Lt. Robert W. Collins, 24, Tyrone, Ga., died April 7, 2010 in Mosul, Iraq, when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Ga.


Army National Guard Sgt. Roberto E. Diaz Borio, 47, San Juan, Puerto Rico, died April 8, 2010 in Mombassa, Kenya, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. The circumstances of his death are under investigation. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 65th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Puerto Rico National Guard, Cayay, Puerto Rico.

U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan

As of Friday, April 9, 2010, at least 954 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:


Army Pfc. Jonathon D. Hall, 23, Chattanooga, Tenn., died April 8, 2010 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device at Contingency Outpost Khayr-Kot-Castle, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.


Army Sgt. Sean M. Durkin, 24, Aurora, Colo. died April 9, 2010 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device near Forward Operating Base Wilson, Afghanistan, on March 27. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, Fort Carson, Colo.


Air Force Senior Master Sgt. James B. Lackey, 45, Green Clove Springs, Fla., died April 9, 2010 near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in a crash of a CV-22 Osprey killing three service members and a civilian contractor. He was assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.


Air Force Maj. Randell D. Voas, 43, Lakeville, Minn., died April 9, 2010 near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in a crash of a CV-22 Osprey killing three service members and a civilian contractor. He was assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

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Remember Their Sacrifice

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

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Related report

Solemn Service Honors St. Cloud Soldier, Family Man


Service honors St. Cloud soldier who died in Iraq (02:31)

By Dave Aeikens and Mark Sommerhauser
St. Cloud Times
April 13, 2010

For family and friends, it was a time to say goodbye. For others, it was a time to say thank you for service to the country.

About 200 people, many wearing military uniforms, honored the life of Sgt. Kurt Kruize of St. Cloud at a funeral Monday morning at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

Kruize, a 35-year-old Army Reserve sergeant, died April 4 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was buried in Minnesota Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls.

Members of the Minnesota Patriot Guard lined the sidewalk outside the church holding American flags before the service and later got on their motorcycles to lead the funeral procession to Little Falls.

The service was a traditional Catholic Mass that lasted about an hour.

The question we have today is why, said the Rev. Bernie Gruenes, who officiated. The service included Bishop John Kinney of the Diocese of St. Cloud.

“Why did this happen to a young man of 35 years that should have had many more years on Earth?”

“Kurt died as a servant. He lost his life serving the country he loved,” Gruenes said.

The service opened with the congregation singing, “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory” and closed with “America” as pallbearers approached to take the casket to the hearse.

Kruize died in a noncombat-related incident when he was crushed between a trailer and tractor, according to his father, Lyle Kruize.

Kurt Kruize, who was born in Morris and grew up in Hancock, lived in St. Cloud with his wife, Billie Jo. They have four children ages 2-13.

Kurt Kruize joined the Army Reserve during his junior year in high school. He served his first tour in Iraq for 11 months in 2003. He left for his second tour Jan. 17 after a going-away event in St. Cloud. He left for Iraq in March. He worked for almost three years at Viking Coca-Cola in St. Cloud.

The accident made Kruize the first St. Cloud soldier to die in Iraq or Afghanistan, and the third from Central Minnesota. Freeport native Staff Sgt. Brian Hellermann died in Baghdad in 2003, and Cpl. Anthony McElveen of Little Falls died in Iraq in 2005.

About seven rows of military personnel dressed in uniform sat on the left side of the church. Six members of the 397th Engineer Batallion of Eau Claire, Wis., carried his flag-draped casket from the church as a bagpiper played and church bells rang.

Kruize’s co-workers and fellow soldiers described him as a dependable family man.

“He’s going to be missed,” said Julie Schmitz, spokeswoman for Viking Coca-Cola in St. Cloud, where Kruize worked. “He was committed to his job; he was committed to the company. But above all, we knew he was committed to his family.”

Kruize’s military assignment was driving a truck for the 367th Engineer Battalion of the U.S. Army Reserve. …

Full story

View St. Cloud Times photo gallery

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Related report on this site

Coming Home (April 10, 2010)


From left to right: Staff Sgt. Brian Hellermann, Cpl. Anthony McElveen, Sgt. Kurt Kruize.

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Related article

St. Cloud soldier, father of four, dies in Iraq
(Star Tribune, April 8, 2010)

Sgt. Kruize returns to U.S.
An Army team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt. Kurt E. Kruize of St. Cloud, Minn., upon his arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. (Photo credit: Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 13, 2009


Crew members of the ship celebrate on the deck of the Maersk Alabama at the Mombasa port in Kenya, Sunday, April 12, 2009, after their captain was released. Guarded by Navy Seals, the crew of an American ship reached a Kenyan port Saturday evening without their captain, still held hostage by Somali pirates in a lifeboat hundreds of miles from shore. (Photo credit: Unknown; possibly Sayyid Azim / AP)

Obama Passes First Crisis Test

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that President Barack Obama’s “no drama” handling of the Indian Ocean hostage crisis — culminating in U.S. Special Operations forces’ successful rescue of an American ship’s captain held by Somali pirates — proved a big win for his administration in its first critical national security test.





3 Responses to “Iraq-Afghanistan Casualties”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Coming Home Says:

    […] Iraq-Afghanistan Casualties (April 13, 2010) […]

  2. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Coming Home from Iraq Says:

    […] Members of the 372nd Engineer Brigade based at Fort Snelling, Minn., prepare to carry the body of Army Reserve Sgt. Kurt Kruize to a waiting hearse at St. Cloud Regional Airport, Saturday, April 10, 2010. […]

  3. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Americans Die in Hellfire Strike Says:

    […] Iraq-Afghanistan Casualties […]

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