In August, the lives of these 83 brave and honorable volunteer American soldiers were violently wasted by their dishonorable Commander-in-Chief, President George W. Bush, in the war he started in Iraq. That war was launched in March 2003 and continues, day by bloody day, indefinitely.
As of the end of August, an estimate of some 1,028,907 Iraqis had also died due to the U.S. invasion of their country. Unlike the American victims of the war, their names, ages and hometowns are not available for contemplation.
On Wednesday, Aug. 1, 30-year-old Specialist 1st Class Travis S. Bachman died in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in Basra. He was from Garden City, Kansas.
On Thursday, Aug. 2, Lance Corporal Cristian Vasquez died in Al Anbar Province by hostile fire. He was 20 years old and hailed from Coalinga, Calif. Staff Sergeant Fernando Santos, 29, of San Antonio, Texas died in the eastern part of Baghdad in an IED attack. Specialist Cristian Rojas-Gallego, 24, of Loganville, GA and Specialist Eric D. Salinas, 25, of Houston, Texas, also died in the same attack. Master Sergent Julian Ingles Rios, 52, of Anasco, Puerto Rico, died during a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) attack in western Baghdad.
On Saturday, Aug. 4, Sergeant Dustin S. Wakeman, 25, of Fort Worth, Texas, died in Hawr Rajab – Baghdad in an IED attack. So did Corporal Jason K. Lafleur, 28, of Ignacio, Colo. and Private 1st Class Jaron D. Holliday, 21, of Tulsa, Okl. Specialist Braden J. Long, 19, of Sherman, Texas, died in western Baghdad in an RPG attack, and Private 1st Class Matthew M. Murchison died by IED attack in Baghdad. Murchison was 21 and hailed from Independence, Mo.
On Sunday, Aug. 5, Private Jeremy S. Bohannon, 18, of Bon Aqua, TN and Specialist Justin R. Blackwell, 27, of Paris, TN, were killed in Baghdad by indirect fire. Specialist Charles E. Leonard Jr. died in an RPG attack in Baghdad (eastern part). Leonard was 29 years old. He was from Monroe, LA.
On Monday, Aug. 6, Specialist Christopher T. Neiberger, 22, of Gainsville, Fla. died in an IED attack in Baghdad, Staff Sergeant Jacob M. Thompson, 26, of North Mankato, Minn., Sergeant Nicholas A. Gummersall, 23, of Chubbuck, Idaho, Corporal Juan M. Alcantara, 22, of New York and Specialist Kareem R. Khan, 20, of Manahawkin, NJ, all died in Ba'qubah – Diyala in an IED attack.
On Tuesday, Aug. 7, Sergeant Jon E. Bonnell Jr. died under hostile fire in Al Anbar Province. Bonnell was 22, from Fort Dodge, Iowa.
On Wednesday, Aug. 8, Specialist Donald M. Young died in west Baghdad in an IED attack. Young was very young, just 19, from Helena, Mon.
On Thursday, Aug. 9, Sergeant Michael E. Tayaotao, 27, of Sunnyvale, Calif., died in Al Anbar Province under hostile fire.
On Saturday, Aug. 11, Staff Sergeant William D. Scates, Sergeant Scott L. Kirkpatrick, Sergeant Andrew W. Lancaster, and Specialist Justin O. Penrod all died in Al Jabour – Baghdad in an IED attack. Private 1st Class William L. Edwards died in Baghdad when a sniper shot him. Scates was 31, from Oklahoma City, Ok.; Kilpatrick was 26, of Reston, VA; Lancaster was 23. He was from Stockton, Ill., and Penrod was 24, of Mahomet, Ill.. Edwards was 23, from Houston, Texas.
On Monday, Aug. 13, Staff Sergeant Eric D. Cottrell, 39, of Pittsview, Alaska, Private 1st Class Juan M. Lopez Jr., 23, of San Antonio, Texas and Private 1st Class Paulomarko U. Pacificador, 24, of Shirley, NY all died in Qayyarah – Ninewah in an IED attack. Specialist Alun R. Howells, 20, of Parlin, Colo. died in Baghdad under hostile fire.
On Tuesday, Aug. 14, Private 1st Class Shawn D. Hensel, 20, of Logansport, Ind. died in western Baghdad by hostile small arms fire. The same day, Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Johnson, 31, of Michigan, Chief Warrant Officer Jackie L. McFarlane Jr, 30, of Virginia Beach, VA, Staff Sergeant Sean P. Fisher, 29, of Santee, Calif., Staff Sergeant Stanley B. Reynolds, 37, of Rock, W. Va., and Specialist Steven R. Jewell, 26, of Bridgeton, NC all died in a helicopter crash in the vicinity of Al Taqaddum Air Base in Anbar Province. Authorities claim that the crash was not caused by enemy action.
On Wednesday, Aug. 15, Staff Sergeant Robert R. Pirelli, 29, from Franklin, Mass., died in Diyala Province by small arms fire. Meanwhile, two female soldiers, Sergeant Princess C. Samuels, of Mitchelville, Md. and Specialist Zandra T. Walker, 28, of Greenville, SC, died in Taji – Baghdad by hostile, indirect fire.
On Thursday, Aug. 16, Corporal Willard M. Powell was hit by small arms fire in Tarmiya and died in Balad – Baghdad. Cpl. Powell was from Evansville, Ind. He was 21.
On Friday, Aug. 17, 1st Lieutenant Jonathan W. Edds died in eastern Baghdad during an IED attack and small arms fire by insurgents who attacked his vehicle. Edds was 24, from White Pigeon, Mich.
On Tuesday, Aug. 21, Staff Sergeant Sandy R. Britt and Private 1st Class Donovan D. Witham both died in IED attacks. Britt, 30, of Apopka, Fla., died near Baghdad when the bomb exploded near his unit. Witham, who was 21, from Malvern, Ark., died west of Baghdad when the IED detonated near his vehicle.
On Wednesday, Aug. 22, Private 1st Class Edgar E. Cardenas, 34, of Lilburn, Ga. died in Baghdad at Abu Ghraib) in an IED attack. Private 1st Class Omar E. Torres, 20, of Chicago, Ill., also died from an IED attack, but he was west of Baghdad at the time. Also on Aug. 22, the following service members lost their lives when their helicopter crashed at Multaka - At-Ta'mim, apparently not because of hostile fire or enemy action: Sergeant Matthew L. Tallman, 30, of Groveland, Calif.; Chief Warrant Officer Paul J. Flynn, 28, of Whittsett, NC; Captain Corry Paul Tyler, 29, of Georgia; Specialist Rickey L. Bell, 21, of Caruthersville, Mo.; Corporal Jeremy P. Bouffard, 21, of Middlefield, Mass.; Specialist Tyler R. Seideman, 20, of Lincoln, Ark.; Captain Derek A. Dobogai, 26, of Fon du Lac, Wis.; Staff Sergeant Jason L. Paton, 25, of Poway, Calif.; Sergeant Garrett I. McLead, 23, of Rockport, Texas; Specialist Jessy G. Pollard, 22, of Springfield, Mo.; Corporal Phillip J. Brodnick, 25, of New Lenox, Ill.; Specialist Michael A. Hook, 25, of Altoona, Penn.; Corporal Joshua S. Harmon, 20, of Mentor, Idaho; and Corporal Nathan C. Hubbard, 21, of Clovis, Calif.
On Thursday, Aug. 23, 33-year-old Sergeant 1st Class Michael J. Tully of Falls Creek, Penn. and Sergeant 1st Class Adrian M. Elizalde, 30, of North Bend, Ore. died in an IED attack in Baghdad.
On Friday, Aug. 24, Sergeant 1st Class David A. Heringes died near Tikrit - Salah ad Din in an IED attack. Heringes was 36 years old from Tampa, Fla.
On Saturday, Aug. 25, Lance Corporal Matthew S. Medlicott died by hostile fire in Al Anbar Province. He was a 21-year-old from Houston, Texas.
On Sunday, Aug. 26, three American soldiers lost their lives. They were Sergeant Joshua L. Morley and Specialist Tracy C. Willis, who died at Samarra - Salah ad DinHostile by small arms fire; and Lance Corporal Rogelio A. Ramirez, who was killed in hostile fire in Al Anbar Province. Morley was 22, from Boise, Idaho; Willis was 21, from Marshall, Texas. Ramirez was from Pasadena, Calif. He was also just 21 years old.
On Tuesday, Aug. 28, Sergeant James S. Collins Jr. died at Kirkuk under hostile fire. He was 35 years old and came from Rochester Hills, Mich.
On Wednesday, Aug. 29, Staff Sergeant Andrew P Nelson, 22, of Moorhead, Minn., died in Muqdadiyah – Diyala when insurgents attacked his unit. His death is attributed to hostile fire but the circumstances are under investigation. Specialist Edward L. Brooks, 25, of Dayton, Ohio, died in Ramadi – Anbar in an IED attack. Corporal John C. Tanner, 21, of Columbus, Ga. also died in Al Anbar Province while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. And Captain Erick M. Foster, 29, of Wexford, Penn., was wounded when insurgents attacked his unit in Muqdadiyah – Diyala with an IED. He died in Balad.
On Thursday, Aug. 30, Sergeant 1st Class Daniel E. Scheibner, 40, of Muskegan, Mich., died in an IED attack in Al Noor – Ninawa. On the same day, Staff Sergeant Jason M. Butkus, 34, of West Milford, NJ, lost his life in Baghdad in an RPG attack.
May they all rest in peace, and their grieving families and friends find solace in their selflessness and courage. Their Commander-in-Chief, meanwhile, has no intention of bringing their surviving brothers and sisters in arms home from Iraq, where they’d be safe from IEDs, RPGs and probably even crashing helicopters. Instead, President Bush seems intent on continuing with the killing, wasting a few Americans here and a bunch of Iraqis there, at least until he leaves office on Jan. 20, 2009. Then he plans to retire from all the hard work of “presidentin’” and when he’s not cutting brush or riding his mountain bike at the ranch in Crawford, he anticipates raking in lots of money as a sought-after speaker, like his father and other presidents before him.
May he rot in hell.
Stats are from icasualties.org.
In August, the lives of these 83 brave and honorable volunteer American soldiers were violently wasted by their dishonorable Commander-in-Chief, President George W. Bush, in the war he started in Iraq. That war was launched in March 2003 and continues, day by bloody day, indefinitely.
1 comment:
Wren, I look at these capsule obits myself, sometimes, for the same reason. Make it real. It's too easy to let it be remote: it's what Bush Inc is counting on.
I think of these people, their names, who they left behind, and everything else, and then I think about our "leader" and I see that he doesn't give a damn. If he did, he'd have never started this war.
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