U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An American soldier was killed Saturday when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
The attack took place near Haswa, 30 miles south of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. The name of the soldier was not released.

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15 February 2005:
Special Forces GI dies of illness after Iraq visit
BLAKE MORLOCK
Courtesy of the Tucson Citizen

It is one death, but many losses.

Tucson lost a native, Salpointe Catholic High School lost a star of its class of '94, the Air Force Academy lost an alumnus and the Third Battalion of the 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, lost a leader shortly before it deploys to Iraq.

The family of U.S. Army Captain Gilbert A. Munoz lost what one relative called its "center of the circle."

Munoz died last week of a staph infection, two weeks after returning from Iraq and two days after his first wedding anniversary. He was 29.

He will be buried next week at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The Arlington special guard unit he served with four years ago will take part in the burial.

His wife, Emily, remembered yesterday what she had, more than what she now must do without, as she pushes on with her life in North Carolina.

"I feel like I lost so much," she said. "But it's so hard to feel anything except thankful for such an incredible individual to have been in my life."

Munoz was set to lead a Special Forces team into Iraq to help train Iraqis to take over security of their country, necessary before the withdrawal of the American military, his wife said.

He left in January for a short scouting mission of the location where he would lead his men and returned home January 28, 2005.

On February 6, 2005, he went into the hospital with flulike symptoms and three days later was dead, his wife said.

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Don

Soldier from Portage dies of non-combat injuries in Iraq


The Associated Press
April 18, 2005 9:52 PM


INDIANAPOLIS -- The father of a soldier from northwestern Indiana wants the Army to tell him more about how his son died in Iraq.

Army Pfc. Steven Sirko, 20, of Portage died of non-combat related injuries Sunday in Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, the military said Monday in a press release. He was assigned to the First Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade, Third Infantry Division, based at Fort Benning, Ga.

No more details were provided in the press release.

The military told his father, Rick Sirko, of Portage, that his son died in his sleep. But a healthy, athletic young man dying in the middle of the night does not make sense to the elder Sirko.

"Tell me how he died," Rick told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. "Don't mince words. All the 'I'm sorries' in the world isn't going to bring my son back."

I just noticed something. They were counting those who died from illness in 2003, but in 2005 they are not counting them. I wonder when they decided to stop counting them? I can't find any info for 2004. I suspect they stopped counting them during 2003 to keep the casualty numbers down. Anyone else notice that? I wonder what the real casualty numbers are now?

Don

Don

Orders must have came down from upon high to not count anymore deaths from illnesses that were acquired inside of Iraq but who later died outside of Iraq. They are fudging the numbers on purpose to keep down the casualty figures due to illnesses my friend. Take care.

Don

Don

Wright's death follows the deaths of two North Carolina soldiers who died after returning from the Middle East and experiencing flulike symptoms.

State epidemiologist Jeffrey Engel said Special Forces Capt. Gilbert A. Munoz, 29, appears to have had the flu and a bacterial infection. He died Feb. 9 of pneumonia, Engel said. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher L. Rogers, 37, a reservist, died Feb. 14, just two days after he began to feel ill, his wife said.

This soldier did not make the list either:

FAYETTEVILLE -- The family of a Fort Bragg officer recently back from Iraq say Capt. Terrance Wright seemed to hiccup almost constantly for weeks before he died this month.

The Army said Wright died of an unknown illness shortly after returning from Iraq in February. His body was found in a Fayetteville motel room March 2.

Wright's mother, Sandra Wright, and an aunt, Karen Wright, said he had been a healthy 33-year-old before he deployed to Iraq in November. It was his second tour in Iraq.

Karen Wright said she spoke to her nephew in Iraq in early February. "He could not speak one sentence without hiccuping," she said.

Wright was seen by doctors in Germany and at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington before being sent to a doctor at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg last month, said Capt. Kevin Broadnax, an Army casualty assistance officer.

http://www.newsobserver.com/nation_world/iraq/story/2258902p-8638654c.html