thedrifter
08-21-07, 03:08 PM
Female troop deaths in Iraq on pace to top record
(CNN) -- A U.S. soldier killed in Baghdad last week marked the fourth death of an American female service member this month, a toll that hasn't been topped since June 2005.
Eighty-two female troops have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to Pentagon numbers.
The highest monthly death toll -- four troops and a Defense Department civilian -- came in June 2005.
The Thursday death of Spc. Kamisha J. Block, 20, of Vidor, Texas, from a "nonbattle-related cause" was the fifth time that four female service members have been killed in a month, the Pentagon reported. It also happened in October 2003, November 2003, September 2006 and January 2007.
Block's death came the day after two female soldiers with Multi-National Division-Baghdad -- Sgt. Princess C. Samuels, 22, of Mitchellville, Maryland, and Spc. Zandra T. Walker, 28, of Greenville, South Carolina -- were killed by indirect gunfire during combat operations in Taji.
The first death of a female soldier this month came August 9. Sgt. Alicia A. Birchett, 29, a Multi-National Division-Baghdad soldier from Mashpee, Massachusetts, died in "noncombat-related circumstances," according to the U.S. military.
Sixteen female service members have died in Iraq this year, which puts 2007 on track to top the previous record of 20, set in 2005. Death tolls in other years are 12 in 2003, 19 in 2004 and 15 in 2006.
Sixty-eight of those were from the Army. Six were Marines, five were from the Navy and three were from the Air Force.
The number of U.S. military deaths in the war stands at 3,700. Seven civilian Defense Department employees also have been killed.
Ellie
(CNN) -- A U.S. soldier killed in Baghdad last week marked the fourth death of an American female service member this month, a toll that hasn't been topped since June 2005.
Eighty-two female troops have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to Pentagon numbers.
The highest monthly death toll -- four troops and a Defense Department civilian -- came in June 2005.
The Thursday death of Spc. Kamisha J. Block, 20, of Vidor, Texas, from a "nonbattle-related cause" was the fifth time that four female service members have been killed in a month, the Pentagon reported. It also happened in October 2003, November 2003, September 2006 and January 2007.
Block's death came the day after two female soldiers with Multi-National Division-Baghdad -- Sgt. Princess C. Samuels, 22, of Mitchellville, Maryland, and Spc. Zandra T. Walker, 28, of Greenville, South Carolina -- were killed by indirect gunfire during combat operations in Taji.
The first death of a female soldier this month came August 9. Sgt. Alicia A. Birchett, 29, a Multi-National Division-Baghdad soldier from Mashpee, Massachusetts, died in "noncombat-related circumstances," according to the U.S. military.
Sixteen female service members have died in Iraq this year, which puts 2007 on track to top the previous record of 20, set in 2005. Death tolls in other years are 12 in 2003, 19 in 2004 and 15 in 2006.
Sixty-eight of those were from the Army. Six were Marines, five were from the Navy and three were from the Air Force.
The number of U.S. military deaths in the war stands at 3,700. Seven civilian Defense Department employees also have been killed.
Ellie