Father: Soldier died overseas of natural causes(stress, after yr. in Iraq)

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1136454542156710.xml&storylist=cleveland

1/5/2006, 4:41 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (AP) — A 19-year-old soldier from Ohio died of natural causes shortly after he arrived in Germany from Iraq, where he had spent the past year with his Army unit, his father said.

John Steenge said authorities told him that his son, Pfc. John Matthew Steenge, suffered a "natural death due to stress" and that there was no trauma.

Steenge was a multichannel system operator with the 17th Signal Battalion based at Kitzingen, Germany. He died Dec. 25, two days after returning to Germany from Iraq.

His father said Steenge was motivated to join the Army by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and enlisted in June 2004 after graduating from Austintown Fitch High School...


7,400 Iraqi civilians died violently in '05

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/11364606184640.xml&coll=2

Thursday, January 05, 2006
Sinan Sallaheddin
Associated Press

Baghdad, Iraq- More than 7,000 Iraqis, most of them civilians, were killed in violence in 2005, the first year that Iraqi officials have kept such records, an Interior Ministry official said Wednesday.

The year 2005 saw 2,880 terrorist attacks target Iraqi security forces and civilians, Maj. Abdul Aziz al-Mousawi said. Some 1,225 policemen and 475 soldiers were killed, along with 4,021 civilians and 1,709 insurgents, he said. Overall, 7,430 Iraqis were killed, according to the figures.

It was impossible to confirm the accuracy of the numbers because many killings in Iraq go unreported and there are no other official figures with which to compare them. The U.S. military does not track civilian deaths.

But the numbers help give some clarity to just how high the death toll has been in a nation where civilians are frequently targeted by insurgents and have been caught up in attacks by U.S. troops...


U.S. deaths in Iraq

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/11364606434640.xml&coll=2

Thursday, January 05, 2006

As of Wednesday, at least 2,183 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,712 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 16,329 U.S. service members have been wounded, according to a Defense Department tally Wednesday.

The latest identification reported by the military:

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jason L. Bishop, 31, Williamstown, Ky.; died Saturday in Siniyah when a bomb exploded near his vehicle; assigned to the 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.



20 Ohio Marines Killed May Have Been Betrayed by Iraqi Security Forces

Information Suggests 3/25 Marines May Have Been Betrayed

Marines Say Information In Report Still Classified


http://www.newsnet5.com/news/5819905/detail.html

UPDATED: 10:49 am EST January 4, 2006

CLEVELAND -- Reports surfacing about the death of 20 Brook Park Marine reservists indicate that the Marines may have been betrayed.

The families of those who died are being told that on Aug. 1, six Marine snipers from the 3/25 were killed, and it appears they were set up and ambushed...

Schroeder said, "The Marines I have talked to, which are many, believe the story of what really goes on in Iraq needs to be told in its entirety."

The Marines at the 3/25 have requested that the investigation report be declassified and released...



Sister of Marine killed in Iraq enlists in reserves

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1136445437179500.xml&storylist=cleveland

1/5/2006, 2:06 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

EVENDALE, Ohio (AP) — The sister of one of 14 Marines killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq in August has enlisted in the Marine Reserves, saying she wants to serve her country as her brother did.

"He realized we have so many freedoms. We have a debt to society," said Sarah Dyer, 17.

Her brother, Lance Cpl. Christopher Dyer, 19, was one of nine Marines from Columbus-based Lima Company killed in the bombing on Aug. 3 near Haditha, Iraq.

Sarah Dyer will graduate next week, leaving high school a semester early. To enlist at 17, the suburban Cincinnati teenager needed her parents' consent...

But I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here.

even way-back-when.

unless there is something wrong with them physically (like a congenital heart condition, etc)-and that sort of thing should have been found out when the kid entered the Army. Knowing there's Depleted Uranium around, and God knows what else, I wonder if they'll ever find out what really killed this lad.

My second thought was of depleted uranium.

Stress caused him to die of _______ (what?)

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=45684

A 19year-old soldier from northeast Ohio has died of natural causes while serving overseas.
The soldier's father says he was informed that his son, Army Private First Class John Matthew Steenge, died on Christmas Day in Germany.

Steenge was a multichannel system operator with the 17th Signal Battalion based at Kitzingen, Germany. He had just returned to Germany after spending a year in Iraq.

His father says Steenge was motivated to join the Army by the nine-eleven terrorist attacks and enlisted in June 2004 after graduating from Austintown Fitch High School.

He had been planning to visit his family and fiancee this month.

It might not be combat-related, but I doubt what killed him was "natural."

die like flies of natural causes.

wow. the only thing i can think of that would kill a 19 year old "naturally" would be a cardiac arrhythmia from an unknown congenital heart defect (which should have been picked up in the pre-enlistment physicals) or a pulmonary embolism.