Saturday, November 01, 2008
Report on American War Dead in Afghanistan and Iraq
The news is finally pretty good. A total of 31 American servicemen died in Iraq and Afghanistan last month, split almost equally between those two countries, according to Department of Defense news releases. 17 died in Afghanistan and 14 died in Iraq, less than during the Summer months. Here are the further breakdowns.
In Iraq, only two servicemen died from IEDs. That's very low. Either we have made a breakthrough in IED detection or we really have won in Iraq, in that the enemy has abandoned its former primary weapon. Very good news, at least for me. Three were killed by small arms and none in combat operations. That doesn't indicate much toe to toe combat. Seven died from non combat or non hostile cause. Two died from indirect fire.
In Afghanistan, seven were killed by IEDs (that's down from last month) and four were killed in combat operations. Two were killed by small arms, two died from non combat causes. one in a vehicle accident and one from indirect fire.
This adds up to one a day which is less than what it cost us during the occupation of Germany in the first year after the war ended, which figure I use as baseline for any occupation after a successful invasion/liberation.
There was one woman killed: Stacy Dryden, 22 of North Canton, OH. She died of a non combat cause.
The officers lost were: 1st Lt. Trevor J. Yurista, 32, from Pleasant Valley, NY (combat operations in Afghanistan); Col. Michael Stahlman, 45, Chevy Chase, MD (non combat cause in Iraq); and, Maj. Robert D. Lindenau, 39, Camano Island, WA (small arms in Afghanistan).
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all our brave warriors and their families.
UPDATE: The count is now 33 according to some late DoD news releases. One died of small arms fire in Afghanistan and another died of a non combat cause in Iraq.
In Iraq, only two servicemen died from IEDs. That's very low. Either we have made a breakthrough in IED detection or we really have won in Iraq, in that the enemy has abandoned its former primary weapon. Very good news, at least for me. Three were killed by small arms and none in combat operations. That doesn't indicate much toe to toe combat. Seven died from non combat or non hostile cause. Two died from indirect fire.
In Afghanistan, seven were killed by IEDs (that's down from last month) and four were killed in combat operations. Two were killed by small arms, two died from non combat causes. one in a vehicle accident and one from indirect fire.
This adds up to one a day which is less than what it cost us during the occupation of Germany in the first year after the war ended, which figure I use as baseline for any occupation after a successful invasion/liberation.
There was one woman killed: Stacy Dryden, 22 of North Canton, OH. She died of a non combat cause.
The officers lost were: 1st Lt. Trevor J. Yurista, 32, from Pleasant Valley, NY (combat operations in Afghanistan); Col. Michael Stahlman, 45, Chevy Chase, MD (non combat cause in Iraq); and, Maj. Robert D. Lindenau, 39, Camano Island, WA (small arms in Afghanistan).
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all our brave warriors and their families.
UPDATE: The count is now 33 according to some late DoD news releases. One died of small arms fire in Afghanistan and another died of a non combat cause in Iraq.
Labels: American War Dead in Iraq and Afghanistan
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:01 AM 
