Casualties

ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2009) — Nearly half of all American children will reside in a household receiving food stamps at some point between the ages of 1 and 20, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Last week: US Iraq Casualties Jump To 75,136
Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered at least ten combat casualties in the week ending November 3, 2009 as the official total since the 2003 invasion rose to at least 75,136. The total includes 35,020 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 40,116 (as of October 31, 2009) dead and medically evacuated from "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 100,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 30,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions - were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq.** In addition, ICC names eight service members who died of wounds after they left Iraq and are not counted by the Pentagon.***

ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2009) — Americans think locally when they consider whether the loss of U.S. troops overseas warrants troop withdrawals, a new nationwide study suggests.

Researchers found that people were more likely to support withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq if one or more soldiers from their home state were killed there within the past two to three weeks.

That was true regardless of how many soldiers from other parts of the country had been killed recently, or how many total national casualties had occurred.

“If you want to gauge public opinion about the war, look at local coverage about the deaths of local soldiers – that seems to be driving opinion more than what’s on national news,” said Andrew Hayes, co-author of the study and associate professor of communication at Ohio State University.

Last week: US Iraq casualties rise to 74,808
Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered at least seven combat casualties in the six days ending October 20 as the official total since the 2003 invasion rose to at least 74,808. The total includes 35,010 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 39,798 (as of October 3) dead and medically evacuated from "non-hostile" causes.*
The actual total is over 100,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 30,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions - were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq.** In addition, ICC names eight service members who died of wounds after they left Iraq and are not counted by the Pentagon.***

By Dave Lindorff

How absurd is it that we have the government on the one hand pulling back from using a hollowed out mountain in Nevada to store nuclear waste because of a fear (legitimate I grant) that hundreds or thousands of years hence, some earthquake or other catastrophe could cause the stored waste to leak into the water table, while on the other hand we have this same government deliberately taking some of the most dangerous waste--the actual uranium from the used fuel rods--and putting it into bombs, shells and bullets to be splattered and burned all across the landscape?

And I should note that it's not just remote places like Iraq and Kuwait and Afghanistan that are being covered in super toxic and radioactive uranium dust--and I'm not just talking about the stuff that gets picked up in the wind and carried around the globe, or the stuff that gets inhaled by our troops and carried home internally, bad enough as that is.

By Dave Lindorff

The horrors of the US Agent Orange defoliation campaign in Vietnam, about which I wrote on Oct. 15, could ultimately be dwarfed by the horrors caused by the depleted uranium weapons which the US began using in the 1991 Gulf War (300 tons), and which it has used much more extensively--and in more urban, populated areas--in the Iraq War and the now intensifying Afghanistan War.

Mother's Final Duty To Soldier Son -- Escort His Body Home
By Rachel Streitfeld | CNN

When the Army flew home the body of Spc. Stephan Mace from Afghanistan, his mother climbed aboard a small jet with the flag-draped coffin for the last leg of his trip.

Vanessa Adelson would not let her 21-year-old son make his final journey home alone.

"I brought him into this world, and he was my baby," she said. "I thought it was my responsibility as a mother to bring him home."

Mace and seven other soldiers were killed this month in a Taliban attack on their remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan, making it the deadliest battle for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since July 2008. Read more.

By Dave Lindorff

On Oct. 13, the New York Times ran a news story headlined “Door Opens to Health Claims Tied to Agent Orange,” which was sure to be good news to many American veterans of the Indochina War. It reported that 38 years after the Pentagon ceased spreading the deadly dioxin-laced herbicide/defoliant over much of South Vietnam, it was acknowledging what veterans have long claimed: in addition to 13 ailments already traced to exposure to the chemical, it was also responsible for three more dread diseases—Parkinson’s, ischemic heart disease and hairy-cell leukemia.

Under a new policy adopted by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, the VA will now start providing free care to any of the 2.1 million Vietnam-era veterans who can show that they might have been hurt by exposure to Agent Orange.

For the sake of my son, why I refused to shake Blair's blood-covered hands
By Sheena Hastings | Yorkshire Post

"The service was to celebrate the end of the war in Iraq, those who had served and those who lost their lives," says Mr Brierley, who attended the ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral with his wife Christine. "Prince Charles and Camilla were there with Prince William. A lot of positive things were said, and the Archbishop made some very good points in his address. I felt that if this Government listened to his words they would end the war in Aghanistan now."

There were about 1,000 people at the reception afterwards, and someone pointed out that Tony Blair was present, across the room. "I hadn't seen him at the service, and felt that, as the man had taken us to war, who walked away from his job two years ago, it was wrong that he should be there at all at a non-political celebration.

"A while later I looked across and Blair was signing autographs for people, on the cover of the programmes we were given for the service. Suddenly a switch went in my head, and before I knew it I was over there. I said 'Mr Blair...' and he stuck his hand out to me.

"I told him 'I don't want to shake your hand. It has blood on it – the blood of my son, the blood of all the other soldiers who died and of the Iraqi people who also died in the war. You took us to war on a lie and you are responsible for all those deaths in Iraq. One day it will come back on you and you'll have to pay for what you did. I don't think you should be here, but I'm going to leave now.'"

As Mr Brierley turned away, Tony Blair was also ushered away. The bereaved father doesn't regret delivering the dressing down but wishes it had been in different circumstances. "It just happened the way it happened, but I don't really think it was an appropriate place, after such a positive, celebratory service." Read more.

Civilian Contractor Toll in Iraq and Afghanistan Ignored by Defense Dept.
by T. Christian Miller | ProPublica

As the war in Afghanistan entered its ninth year, the Labor Department recently released new figures [1] for the number of civilian contract workers who have died in war zones since 9/11. Although acknowledged as incomplete, the figures show that at least 1,688 civilians have died and more than 37,000 have reported injuries while working for U.S. contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More than 5,200 soldiers have died in the two war zones, meaning that one civilian contractor has died for every three soldiers — a ratio that reflects the unprecedented degree to which the Pentagon has outsourced the work of war. Civilian contractors make up [2] about half the total U.S. forces in the war zones and they have been deployed on the front lines far more than any previous U.S. conflict [3]. Iraq and Afghanistan are the most outsourced wars in U.S. history.

Despite the importance of civilian contractors to its mission, the Defense Department hasn’t been measuring their sacrifice. A little-noticed report [4] from the Government Accountability Office last week noted that the Pentagon has yet to implement a Congressional requirement to track contractor fatalities. Read more.

US Iraq Casualties Jump to 74,795
Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered at least 14 combat casualties in the week ending October 6 as the official total since the 2003 invasion rose to at least 74,456. The total includes 35,001 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 39,794 (as of October 3, 2009) dead and medically evacuated from "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 100,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 30,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions - were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq.** In addition, ICC names eight service members who died of wounds after they left Iraq and are not counted by the Pentagon.***

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by occasionally reporting only the total killed (4,351 as of Oct 6), but rarely mentioning the 31,527 wounded in combat. To further minimize public perception of the human cost, they cover for the Pentagon by ignoring the 38,917 (as of Oct 3)*** military victims of accidents and illness serious enough to require medical air evacuation, although the 4,351 reported deaths include 877 (up one) who died from those same causes, including at least 18 from faulty electrical work by KBR and 196 suicides through Oct. 3, 2009.***

Key:

* The number of wounded is updated weekly (usually Tuesday).
** New York Times, Jan 26, 2009
*** http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oif-total.pdf

US Iraq Casualties Rise to 74,456
Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered at least four combat casualties in the week ending September 29, 2009 as the official total since the 2003 invasion rose to at least 74,456. The total includes 34,987 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 39,469 (as of September 5, 2009) dead and medically evacuated from "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 100,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 30,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions - were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq.** In addition, IC names eight service members who died of wounds after they left Iraq and are not counted by the Pentagon.***

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by occasionally reporting only the total killed (4,349 as of Sept. 29, 2009), but rarely mentioning the 31,514 wounded in combat. To further minimize public perception of the cost, they cover for the Pentagon by ignoring the 38,593 (as of Sept 5, 2009)*** military victims of accidents and illness serious enough to require medical air evacuation, although the 4,349 reported deaths include 876 (up one) who died from those same causes, including at least 18 from faulty electrical work by KBR and 195 suicides through Sept 5.***

Key:

* The number of wounded is updated weekly (usually Tuesday).
** New York Times, Jan 26, 2009
*** Global War On Terrorism - Operation Iraqi Freedom

US Iraq Casualties Rise to 74,451
Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered at least 16 combat casualties in the week ending September 22, 2009 as the official total since the 2003 invasion rose to at least 74,451. The total includes 34,983 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 39,468 (as of September 5) dead and medically evacuated from "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 100,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 30,000 veterans whose injuries - mainly brain trauma from explosions - were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq.** In addition, IC names eight service members who died of wounds after they left Iraq and are not counted by the Pentagon.***

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by occasionally reporting only the total killed (4,348 as of Sept. 22, 2009), but rarely mentioning the 31,510 wounded in combat. To further minimize public perception of the cost, they cover for the Pentagon by ignoring the 38,593 (as of Sept 5, 2009)*** military victims of accidents and illness serious enough to require medical air evacuation, although the 4,348 reported deaths include 875 (up one) who died from those same causes, including at least 18 from faulty electrical work by KBR and 195 suicides through Sept 5.***

* The number of wounded is updated weekly (usually Tuesday) here.
** New York Times, Jan 26, 2009
*** Global War On Terrorism - Operation Iraqi Freedom"

Tracy Lynn Alger
New Auburn, Wisconsin

Tracy Lynn Alger's passions were rodeo and barrel-racing, and she always tried to improve her teams. I feel like I'm a better person for knowing her, said Todd Kirschbaum, coach of the Rodeo Club.

Alger, 30, of New Auburn, Wis., was killed Nov. 1, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Shubayshen. She was assigned to Fort Campbell. She graduated the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2001 with a degree in marketing communications.

Serving her country was what she wanted, said her mother, Pauline Knutson. We had a conversation before she left that she might not be coming back, so we spent as much time together as we could.

After college, she worked as a graphic artist and then as a certified nursing assistant before signing up for the National Guard, inspired by the 9/11 attacks.

Alger was in charge of convoys that transported supplies. She was a very considerate officer, Knutson said. She didn't have to go on a lot of the convoys, but she wanted to serve alongside her people. She was not a stay-back-at-camp kind of person.

She was such a good daughter, Knutson said.

Marine from Baldwin County killed by bomb blast in Afghanistan
By Russ Henderson | AL Press Register | Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Lance Cpl. Bruce "Bubba" Ferrell Jr., 21, a Marine from Perdido in north Baldwin County, was killed Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded during a routine foot patrol near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, family members said Tuesday.

"He was the only one. He and the others got out of the Humvee and went out on foot," said Bruce Ferrell Sr., his father. "Bubba stepped on an IED and he was gone."

At first, the family was told early Tuesday morning that the lance corporal was missing in action. A few hours later, a group of Marines — including the gunnery sergeant of the young Marine's unit — visited the Ferrell home to deliver the news, Bruce Ferrell Sr. said.

Bubba Ferrell had been part of Fox Company, a rifle unit of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment of the Marine Corps, family members said. He had recently become a Marine and began his first deployment — a seven-month stint in Afghanistan — in May, his father said. The family hadn't talked to him since his deployment, he said.

"Then on Saturday, he called. We got to talk to him for 10 or 15 minutes, and we feel very lucky about that, because it happened the next evening," Bruce Ferrell Sr. said.

Pam Ferrell, the Marine's mother, said her son was "kind-hearted. He would do anything for anyone, and I'm not just saying that because he's my son. Just ask anyone.

"He was goofy," she said with a smile. "He was a free spirit and was true to the Marines. He said he was going over to fight for his friends and his country. He was going over there to watch over them. He went over there and ended up sacrificing it all. I'm going to miss his smile and him telling me he loves me."...

45,000 American deaths associated with lack of insurance
By Madison Park | CNN

A freelance cameraman's appendix ruptured and by the time he was admitted to surgery, it was too late. A self-employed mother of two is found dead in bed from undiagnosed heart disease. A 26-year-old aspiring fashion designer collapsed in her bathroom after feeling unusually fatigued for days.

What all three of these people have in common is that they experienced symptoms, but didn't seek care because they were uninsured and they worried about the hospital expense, according to their families. All three died.

Research released this week in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with the lack of health insurance. If a person is uninsured, "it means you're at mortal risk," said one of the authors, Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The researchers examined government health surveys from more than 9,000 people aged 17 to 64, taken from 1986-1994, and then followed up through 2000. They determined that the uninsured have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those with private health insurance as a result of being unable to obtain necessary medical care. The researchers then extrapolated the results to census data from 2005 and calculated there were 44,789 deaths associated with lack of health insurance. Read more.

Proxy wedding means Marine's widow, baby unwelcome
By Kristin M. Hall, Associated Press | Yahoo! News

Hotaru Ferschke just wants to raise her 8-month-old son in his grandparents' Tennessee home, surrounded by photos and memories of the father he'll never meet: a Marine who died in combat a month after marrying her from thousands of miles away.

Sgt. Michael Ferschke was killed in Iraq in 2008, leaving his widow and infant son, both Japanese citizens, in immigration limbo: A 1950s legal standard meant to curb marriage fraud means U.S. authorities do not recognize the marriage, even though the military does.

Ferschke and his bride had been together in Japan for more than a year, and she was pregnant when he deployed. They married by signing their names on separate continents and did not have a chance to meet again in person after the wedding, which a 57-year-old immigration law requires for the union to be considered consummated.

"She is being denied because they are saying her marriage is not valid because it was not consummated — despite the fact that they have a child together," said Brent Renison, an immigration lawyer in Oregon who has advised the family. Read more.

Lynching Victim Emmett Till's Casket to go to Smithsonian
By Don Babwin | Black News

The glass-topped casket that displayed lynching victim Emmett Till's disfigured body to the world and became a rallying point for the civil rights movement is headed to the Smithsonian Institution, Till's family announced Friday.

"Hopefully, when this casket, when it's on display at the Smithsonian, young boys and young girls from all over the world are going to see it and it's going to inspire them to fight for those who are too weak to fight for themselves," said Simeon Wright, Till's cousin.

At the South Side church where Mamie Till-Mobley insisted in 1955 on opening the casket that held the remains of her 14-year-old son - and allowed photographs to be taken and published - Wright said her message of what racism looks like still needs to be told.

"Fifty years from now someone will tell the story ... that they murdered him, threw him in the Tallahatchie River, would they believe it without the casket?" asked Wright. He was 12 and was with Till the night the black teenager was pulled from his bed in Mississippi and murdered for whistling at a white woman.

Lonnie Bunch, the director of the Smithsonian's planned National Museum of African American History and Culture, where the casket will be displayed, said he knows of no other casket of a specific American put on display this way at the Smithsonian. He called it a key artifact from the civil rights movement that helps tell the story of what is both one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history and a moment that helped change it.

"Part of the responsibility of a national museum is to help people to remember, and through this donation we will ensure that future generations will remember how the death of a child, a mother's courage, helped to transform America," Bunch said. Read more.

US Iraq Casualties Rise to 74,040
Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered at least 11 combat casualties in the week ending September 15 as the official total since the 2003 invasion soared to at least 74,040. The total includes 34,967 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 39,073 (as of August 1, 2009) dead and medically evacuated from "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 100,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 30,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions - were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq.** In addition, IC names eight service members who died of wounds after they left Iraq and are not counted by the Pentagon.***