In Memoriam

[Grace]

The conflict in Afghanistan started 8 years ago today, October 7th.


According to CNN, in Afghanistan alone, there have been 1,435 coalition deaths as of 6 October 2009 --

865 Americans,
11 Australians,
one Belgian,
219 Britons,
131 Canadians,
3 Czech,
25 Danes,
21 Dutch,
6 Estonians,
one Finn,
35 French,
30 Germans,
2 Hungarians,
20 Italians,
3 Latvian,
one Lithuanian,
4 Norwegians,
13 Poles,
2 Portuguese,
11 Romanians,
one South Korean,
25 Spaniards,
2 Swedes,
2 Turks
and one NATO/ISAF

[Grace]

In Iraq, according to CNN, there have been 4,668 coalition deaths since the beginning in May 2003 - as of 6 October 2009 -

4,351 Americans,
two Australians,
one Azerbaijani,
179 Britons,
13 Bulgarians,
one Czech,
seven Danes,
two Dutch,
two Estonians,
one Fijian,
five Georgians,
one Hungarian,
33 Italians,
one Kazakh,
three Latvians,
22 Poles,
three Romanians,
five Salvadoran,
four Slovaks,
one South Korean,
11 Spaniards,
two Thai,
18 Ukrainians

The list also includes 13 U.S. Defense Department civilian employees.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Thank you for those figures, Gretchen. I am teary eyed here, looking at the ages of those young people. The statistics are mind blowing. Families will be without those soldiers on Thanksgiving and Christmas for the first time. The families will never see their loved ones again. It breaks my heart.

Rest In Peace Fallen Soldiers Thank you for protecting us. You saved us, but, unfortunately, you couldn't save yourselves.

I'm honestly getting to the point that I resent high government officials doing anything besides trying to bring these soldiers home asap. I know I shouldn't feel this way but I can't help it. My heart hopes they are working on a plan that will take effect right away. I just hoped I would have seen large amounts of them already home. What is it going to take? Isn't this enough?

[Grace]

FRANCE

Died 8 October 2009

Sgt. Johann Hivin-Gerard, 29
3e Regiment d'Infanterie de Marine (3rd Marine Infantry Regiment)

Died on October 8, 2009, at Percy Military Hospital in Paris, France, of wounds sustained when a roadside bomb struck his armored vehicle while escorting a logistics convoy in the Surobi district north of Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 4, 2009

[Grace]

Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, SPAIN


7 October 2009

Cpl. Cristo A. Cabello Santana, 24
Regimiento de Infanteria Ligera IX (9th Light Infantry Regiment)

Killed when a roadside bomb struck his armored vehicle during a reconnaissance and security patrol east of Herat, Afghanistan.

[Grace]

7 October 2009

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth W. Westbrook, 41, of Shiprock, N.M., died Oct. 7 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of wounds suffered Sept. 8 when insurgents attacked his unit in the Ganjigal Valley, Afghanistan, using small arms and indirect fire. He was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

[Grace]

UNITED KINGDOM


8 October 2009

It is with extreme sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Lance Corporal James Hill, 23 from Redhill in Surrey, of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards in Afghanistan on 8 October 2009.

Lance Corporal Hill was killed as a result of an explosion that happened near to Camp Bastion in Helmand Province.