"Missin Accomplished" you say?
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Twenty five U.S. troops have died this week in separate incidents in
war-torn Iraq.
Five U.S. Marines, most in their early 20s, were killed in a roadside
blast in western Iraq Thursday.
The attack came in the Anbar province where 17 Iraqis had been
blindfolded and executed. Their bodies were found on Friday.
U.S. officials said the Marines killed were engaged in combat operations
in Haqlaniya.
They were Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Birch, 22, of Saint Anthony, Idaho, Lance
Cpl. Daniel Chavez, 20, of Seattle, Wash., Lance Cpl. Thomas O. Keeling,
23, of Strongsville, Ohio, Lance Cpl. Devon P. Seymour, 21, of St.
Louisville, Ohio, and Cpl. Brad D. Squires, 26, of Middleburg Heights, Ohio.
Keeling, Seymour, and Squires were assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s
3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Akron, Ohio.
Birch was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 4th Tank Battalion, 4th
Marine Division, Boise, Idaho. Chavez was assigned to 1st Tank
Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp
Pendleton, Calif.
Also losing his life Thursday was Staff Sgt. Mark O. Edwards, 40, of
Unicoi, Tenn., who died at his forward operating base near Tuz from a
non-combat related cause. Edward's death is the subject of an investigation.
According to Multinational Force Iraq officials Friday., a Marine
assigned to 2nd Force Service Support Group, 2nd Marine Expeditionary
Force (Forward), died in a vehicle accident near the town of Hit on
Wednesday.
1st Lt. Michael J. Fasnacht, 25, of Columbus, Ga., was also killed
Wednesday in Tikrit when an improvised explosive device detonated near
his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Pfc. Douglas E. Kashmer, 27, of Sharon, Pa., died Wednesday in Nippur
when the wrecker in which he was a passenger was involved in a
non-combat related rollover.
Sgt. Roberto Arizola, Jr., 31, of Laredo, Texas, was killed Wednesday in
Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV.
Two other soldiers were killed in Tikrit Wednesday after an explosion of
unknown origin occurred near their location. They were Capt. Phillip T.
Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y., and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen, 34, of
Milford, Pa.
Lance Cpl. Marc L. Tucker, 24, of Pontotoc, Miss., was also killed
Wednesday as a result of a non-hostile vehicle accident in Asr Uranium,
Iraq.
Multinational Corps Iraq meantime have opened a criminal investigation
into two Task Force Liberty soldiers' deaths Tuesday at Forward
Operating Base Danger, near Tikrit, officials in Iraq reported Friday.
Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen were killed in what
was thought to be an indirect-fire attack. Both officers were assigned
to Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division, New York
Army National Guard. Esposito was company commander; Allen served as a
company operations officer.
Military police and responders at first indicated that a mortar round
had struck the window on the building where the two officers were
located. However, explosive ordnance personnel determined the blast
pattern at the scene was inconsistent with a mortar attack after further
examination.
Lt. Col. Terrence K. Crowe, 44, of New York, N.Y., was killed Tuesday in
Tal Afar when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using
rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire.
Also Tuesday Spc. Eric T. Burri, 21, of Wyoming, Mich., died in Baghdad,
when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV.
On Monday two soldiers were killed as a result of an explosion while
conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Fallujah, Iraq.
They were Lance Cpl. Robert T. Mininger, 21, of Sellersville, Pa., and
Lance Cpl. Jonathan L. Smith, 22, of Eva, Ala.,
Also Monday Spc. Brian M. Romines, 20, of Simpson, Ill., died in
Baghdad, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV,
while Col. Theodore S. Westhusing, 44, of Dallas, Texas, died in
Baghdad, from non-combat related injuries.
On Sunday three soldiers died in Baghdad when an improvised explosive
device detonated near their military vehicle. They were Staff Sgt.
Justin L. Vasquez, 26, of Manzanola, Colo., Spc. Eric J. Poelman, 21, of
Racine, Wis., and Pfc. Brian S. Ulbrich, 23, of Chapmanville, W. Va.
Also Sunday Spc. Carrie L. French, 19, of Caldwell, Idaho, died in
Kirkuk when an improvised explosive device hit the front of her convoy
vehicle and detonated.
Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting police colonels were killed in drive-by
shootings in the cities of Kirkuk and Basra on Friday.
Iraqi security forces also came under attack in other parts of the country.
Police in the northern city of Kirkuk said Colonel Rahim Uthman, head of
the local anti-terrorist department, had been killed on Thursday.
He and his assistant Major Ghanim Jihad were shot dead from a blue BMW,
they said.
And on Friday in the southern city of Basra, the commander of the local
police academy was shot dead.
Three or four gunmen in a car swerved in front of Colonel Abdelkarim
Daraji's vehicle and opened fire, police said. His brother also died in
the attack, the BBC report added.
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