Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq - 484 U.S. service members have died

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=995240

This Hoosier soldier died stateside from burns suffered in Iraq. His death will not be counted among the American casualties in Iraq.

Brookston reservist dies after suffering burns in Iraq attack
By Ken Kusmer
The Associated Press
January 6, 2004 3:16 AM

An Army Reservist from a unit based in Lafayette who died after the truck in which he was riding struck a land mine in Iraq understood that serving his country might cost his life, his sister said.

"I know my brother is in a better place," Johanna Frist said Monday following the death of her brother, Spc. Luke Frist. "He died doing what he loved. He knew the sacrifices when he signed up, and he loved fighting for our freedom."

Luke Frist died Monday from burns he suffered over 95 percent of his body. "His body just couldn't take it any longer," said Johanna Frist, who was acting as the family spokeswoman from the family home in Brookston, a White County town of about 1,700 people about 14 miles north of Lafayette.

She said her 20-year-old brother was pronounced dead at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio. Military officials informed the family of his death Monday afternoon, she said.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/108722-1218-127.html

what a terrible waste of life for NOTHING but greed and power, not "our freedom"... :puke:

if the pentagon combines both efforts under one 'war against terror', shouldn't they add all the fatalities? anybody have the combined number handy?

we have breached the 200 mark, but that one is kept really close to the vest.

and 487 from iraq (coalition?) for a total of 577

Another young man was killed in a mortar attack only a few minutes ago.

Why do I never see a number of wounded?

You could come to think that there is nothing between "unharmed" and "dead"...

Am I correct in assuming that there are maybe 5 wounded for each 1 dead?

and that doesn't mean a broken arm which heals in a month...

many of those people are "living dead" because their life is pretty much over...



Well, who would want to go to war if he saw pictures of THEM ?

Killed and wounded... check that medical evac number--11,000.

<clips>
In the press:
Medical evacuations from Iraq near 11,000
Denial of Purple Heart medals
Toll on U.S. troops approach 10,000
U.S. casualties from Iraq war top 9,000
US Military Personnel Wounded in Iraq & Afghanistan
Military Personnel Wounded in Iraq & Afghanistan: Photo Gallery
America's hidden battlefield toll
Number of Wounded in Action on Rise
1,000 troops wounded in Iraq war
At least 827 American wounded


http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

They reported almost 9000 soldiers (that's Army personnel only, not counting any other military branch) evacuated from Iraq because of injury. The story emphasized how difficult it is to get this information out of the Pentagon and Central Command. Both agencies told the reporter the other one should have the injury figures. He finally got the Army figures from the Army itself. The reporter also interviewed people on the street--most knew approximately how many dead there were, but not one had any clue as to the number of wounded, placing the figure at a few hundred.

I heard about this on Democracy Now! a month or so ago. Here's some of the transcript of Cher's description of the wounded at Walter Reed where they are flown in at night.

<clips>

Caller: Good morning! Thank you for C-SPAN. I watch it every day! Uh, I would like to say I had the occasion the other day to spend the entire day with troops that had come back from Iraq and had been wounded and—I also visited troops during the Vietnam era, but the thing that I was most shocked by, as I walked into the hospital, the first person I ran into was a boy about 19 or 20 years old who'd lost both of his arms. And when I walked into the hospital and visited all these boys all day long—everyone had lost either one arm, one limb, or two limbs . . . and there were a lot of legs that seemed to be missing. A couple of the boys told me it was because the rockets pierce their vehicles so much, it's like being kind of in a tin can. Three guys in the same vehicle have lost a leg. Another thing that I saw was that if they'd lost one leg, that the shrapnel that had hit the other leg had been so devastating that they were having to pull, like, the thigh—you know, the muscle and the thigh—around the bottom of the calf to try to make the leg workable. But in some cases these boys had lost one leg and the other leg was so damaged that they weren't sure what they were gonna be able to do.

Slen: Where did you spend the day?

Caller: Walter Reed .

...Slen: Is this Cher?

Caller: Yeah.

Slen: And you spent the day at Walter Reed.

Caller: Yeah. And I spent the day with—I mean they were great guys. . . . They had the most unbelievable courage. It took everything that I have as a person to—to not, you know, break down while I was talking to these guys. But I just think that if there was no reason for this war, this was the most heinous thing I'd ever seen. And also I wonder why are none of Cheney, Wolfowitz, Bremer, the president—why aren't they taking pictures with all these guys? Because I don't understand why these guys are so hidden and why there aren't pictures of them, because you know, talking about the dead and the wounded, that's two different things, but these wounded are so devastatingly wounded. It's unbelievable. It's just unbelievable to me. You know, if you're going to send these people to war, then don't hide them. Have some news coverage where people are sitting and talking to these guys and seeing how they are and seeing their spirit. It's just—I think it's a crime.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0345/mondo2.php

---

and this article about the Army Times printing the photos of all those who died in Iraq also mentions Cher.

<clips>

The Army Times, a civilian newspaper that is sold mainly on military bases and thus reaches the prime wartime audience, uses eight pages of its year-end review, out now, to run photos of all those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, except 35.

I usually don't refer to other publications, for I have enough trouble with my own. But this issue of the Army Times is so extraordinary and gives hope that it will provide some leadership in the news industry.

There were 506 killed by the time the newspaper closed last Friday. Since then, another seven have died. The newspaper has said this is the deadliest year for the U.S. military since 1972, when 640 were killed in Vietnam.

In introducing the pictures, under the headline "Faces of the Fallen," the Army Times said: "More than 500 service members died in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom in 2003, a group that represents the full, rich face of American diversity.

<http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/columnists/ny-nybres303605595dec30,0,1839774.column?coll=ny-ny-columnists>

Hell, it wasn't even a year ago when bu$h was shitting down both legs, telling ANYone who would listen that we just had to INVADE IRAQ RIGHT NOW!

Saddam had THOUSANDS OF LITERS OF NERVE GAS!! He was aboout to ATTACK THE EAST COAST WITH DRONE AIRCRAFT! He was ABOUT TO GET THE NUCLEAR BOMB! We HAD TO GET HIM NOW or he'd come over here in the middle of the night and EAT OUR BABIES!

So, "Mister President," where the FUCK are all those terrible weapons that were such a threat? You've had PLENTY of time to find them, wouldn't you say?

Why did 485 Americans really die?

What would your Favorite Philosopher do?

:grr:
dbt

IRAQ NAM.

1/8 a.m. blackhawk down

<excerpts>

From: ________________
To: mike@michaelmoore.com
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 12:33 AM
Subject: re: thanks, from Ft. ______

wow, 130,000 troops on the ground, nearly 500 deaths and over a billion dollars a day, but they caught a guy living in a hole. am i supposed to be dazzled?

SPC _____________, US Army


This letter was sent by mail from Iraq from Specialist Mike Prysner:

Dear Mr. Moore:

I’m writing this without knowing if it’ll ever get to you. I’m writing it not knowing why, or knowing what I’m going to say. I’m writing it not knowing if I’ll ever finish it or mail it. I’m writing it from the trenches of a war (that’s still going on,) not knowing why I’m here or when I’m leaving. I’ve toppled statues and vandalized portraits, while wearing an American flag on my sleeve, and struggling to learn how to understand.

An Army private, still in Iraq and wishing to remain anonymous, writes:

"I would like to tell you how difficult it is to serve under a man who was never elected. Because he is the president and my boss, I have to be very careful as to who and what i say about him. This also concerns me a great deal... to limit the military's voice is to limit exactly
what America stands for... and the greater percentage of us feel completely underpowered. He continually sets my friends, my family, and several others in a kind of danger that frightens me beyond belief. I know several other soldiers who feel the same way and discuss the situation with me on a regular basis."

<http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/dudewheresmycountry/soldierletters/index.php>

This is so sickening....1 in mortar attack, 9 in helicopter "downing".

We need to remember that thousands of innocent Iraqi's are being killed in Bush's latest war du jour for oil. According to the Iraq Body Count website, about 9,000 Iraqi's have died. But as General Tommy Franks, US Central Command, said, “We don’t do body counts”.

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/