2,000th U.S. soldier dies
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, October 25, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq – The fatality toll among Americans serving in the 21/2-year Iraq war has reached 2,000, the military reported Tuesday as it announced the death of a soldier who had been wounded by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad.
Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander Jr., 34, of Killeen, Texas, was wounded Oct. 17 when a bomb planted by insurgents exploded near his Bradley fighting vehicle in the town of Samarra, the Pentagon said. He died Saturday at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, the Pentagon said.
Alexander’s death was the 2,000th fatality registered in an Associated Press tally that began when American-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 to topple then-President Saddam Hussein. More than 15,000 U.S. soldiers have been wounded.
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate observed a moment of silence in honor of the fallen 2,000. “We owe them a deep debt of gratitude for their courage, for their valor, for their strength, for their commitment to our country,” Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist said.
In a speech delivered just hours before the Pentagon announced the death, Bush’s voice cracked as he acknowledged those who have died in the war.
“Each loss of life is heartbreaking,” he said. “And the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and lay the foundation of peace by spreading freedom.”
Critics of the war acknowledged the sacrifice, even as they questioned the policies of those who lead it.
Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, began a vigil Tuesday in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. The liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org, a leading opponent of the war, planned candlelight vigils across the country this evening in remembrance of troops who have died. The organization also planned to air TV ads about the passing of the 2,000 mark.
The number of Iraqis who have died violently since the invasion is many times larger than the U.S. military death toll. At least 3,870 were killed in the past six months alone, according to an Associated Press count.
One U.S. military spokesman said it is possible the figure for the entire war could be 30,000 Iraqis, which many experts see as a credible estimate.
Many American soldiers in Iraq who have watched their buddies die said this week that morale remained high, bolstered by a need to give meaning to those deaths and to protect one another as the war’s toll continues to rise.
“It’s going to keep going up until it’s over,” said Spc. Francisco Gutierrez, 21, of Odessa, Texas, a paratrooper with the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment on a mission in Tal Afar.
Gutierrez said he lost his Fort Bragg training partner and needed to keep fighting so that his partner’s death would not be in vain. “It’s not about revenge,” he said, “but finishing what we started.”
“It gets rough here … but most know what the purpose is,” said Sgt. Frederick Shinlever of the same regiment, adding that several of the 2,000 dead were his friends.
“It makes you want to fight and clean the place up even more,” said the 35-year-old from Indianapolis. “If we were to pull out, it’d be a lost cause.”
County’s fallen
Snohomish County residents who have died in the war in Iraq:
Army paratrooper Spc. Justin W. Hebert, 20, of Silvana died Aug. 1, 2003, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Humvee he was driving near Baghdad.
Marine machine gunner Pfc. Cody Calavan, 19, of Lake Stevens was killed May 29, 2004, in a car-bomb explosion in Anbar province.
Marine Cpl. Steven A. Rintamaki, 21, of Lynnwood died Sept. 16, 2004, in military action in Anbar province.
Marine Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, 22, of Snohomish died May 30, 2005, in combat operations in Ramadi.
Also killed was Mariner High School graduate Todd Drobnick, 35, a translator for San Diego defense contractor Titan Corp. He died Nov. 23, 2003, in Mosul in a petroleum truck collision.
