Issue Date: January 12, 2004

1 in 6 deaths in Iraq last year were reservists

By Chuck Vinch
Times staff writer

At least 81 Guardsmen and reservists are among the 479 U.S. service members who died in or near Iraq in 2003, the military’s deadliest year since the Vietnam era, according to preliminary official Pentagon data.
Of those who have died, more than two-thirds — 327 Americans — were killed by hostile fire. Another 152 have died by other means, chiefly accidents but also illness and suicide.

At least 81 people — 16 percent of those killed (one out of six) — were reserve or National Guard members. That includes 13 Guard and reserve members who were among the 138 killed up to May 1, when President Bush declared an end to major combat operations.

Once major combat ended and forces were reconfigured for stability and security, the death rate for Guard and reserve members climbed from about 10 percent before May 1 to about 20 percent of all casualties since.

Coincidentally, the 10 percent death rate for reservists and Guard members in the major-combat phase of the Iraq war was almost identical to that of Vietnam. The Department of Veterans Affairs lists 58,398 total deaths in theater during the Vietnam War (including 10,788 non-battle deaths). According to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, those casualties included 5,977 reservists and 101 National Guard members, for a death rate of 10.4 percent among non-active-duty personnel.

In Iraq, the deadliest month for Americans was November, when at least 82 lost their lives, mainly in four helicopter crashes.

The rush to Baghdad, which began March 20, claimed about 120 lives by April 12, when major resistance had been rooted out.

The least deadly months have been June, when 29 Americans were killed, and September, when 30 were killed. At least 40 Americans died in December, including seven on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Makeshift bombs continue to take their toll. In December alone, at least 19 deaths were attributed to such explosives.

Not all deaths have been caused by enemies or those hostile to the American presence. Through mid-December, at least 93 of the nonhostile deaths had been classified as accidents, 17 as illnesses, three as homicides and 13 as self-inflicted. The rest, more than 20, were awaiting classification.

The average age of Americans who have died in Iraq is 27. But the ages of the dead also reflect the wide range of those who serve in uniform. The youngest seven were 18 years old, and the oldest to die was 55. Nearly a quarter of those who have died — 113 enlisted men and women — have been age 21 or younger. By contrast, in Vietnam, the VFW says 61 percent of those killed were 21 or younger.

Another 93 killed in Iraq were between the ages of 22 and 24. Thus, more than 40 percent of those killed were under the age of 25. At the other end of the age range, 76 of the dead were older than 35.

As in all wars, lower-enlisted members have borne the brunt of casualties in Iraq. Of the 479 who gave their lives, 251 people — slightly more than half — were in the E-1 to E-4 grades. Another 159 — about one-third of the total — were in the E-5 to E-9 grades.

The death rate among officers was just under 15 percent, and officers accounted for 68 of the total deaths. Perhaps reflecting the random nature of combat deaths, the officer death rate is almost identical to the percentage of officers in the military.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...ER-2523311.php


Sempers,

Roger