Leaving Iraq behind

BY THE NUMBERS36: Tennessee Army National Guard units deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom97: Tennesseans killed; 598 wounded141: Georgians killed; 862 wounded73: Alabamians killed; 550 wounded4,484: U.S. troops killed during Iraq War30,108: Total U.S. wounded during Iraq WarSource: State, federal governmentsIRAQ CASUALTIESThe most deadly year of the war was 2007, with 904 American military deaths. So far this year, 54 American military deaths were reported.At least 19 of those who died since the start of the war had connections to this region.• Army Pvt. Thomas Edward Lee III, 20, of Dalton, Ga., died May 29, 2009, in Mosul, of wounds suffered when an explosive device struck his vehicle.• Army Cpl. Michael B. Alleman, 31 – a 1996 Southeast Whitfield High School graduate who had been living in Logan, Utah – died Feb. 23, 2009, in Balad, of wounds received in battle.• Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan W. Dean, 25, of Henagar, Ala., died Dec. 20, 2008, from injuries sustained during a noncombat-related incident in Tikrit.• Army Capt. Darrick Wright, 37, of Nashville – formerly unit commander of the Army Reserve’s 390th Engineering Company in Chattanooga – died Sept. 17, 2008, in Baghdad, of noncombat-related cardiac arrest.• Marine Lance Cpl. James M. Gluff, 20, of Tunnel Hill, Ga., died Jan. 19, 2008, in a battle in Ramadi.• Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan M. Lankford, 42, of Scottsboro, Ala., died Sept. 22, 2007, in Baghdad, of noncombat-related cardiac arrest.• Marine Lance Cpl. Will Chambers, 20, of Ringgold, Ga., drowned on July 1, 2007, just off the shore of Anbar province in a nonhostile boat accident.• Army Pfc. Travis Haslip, 20, of Ooltewah, died May 19, 2007, in Baghdad, when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his vehicle.• Army Sgt. Shawn Dunkin, 25, of Chattanooga and Columbia, S.C., died Feb. 19, 2007, in Baghdad, after his vehicle was struck by an IED.• Army Sgt. John Michael Sullivan, 22, of Hixson, died Dec. 30, 2006, when an IED detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad.• Army Sgt. David Weir, 23, of Cleveland, Tenn., died Sept. 14, 2006, during a battle in Baghdad.• Marine Lance Cpl. Kristopher Cody Warren, 19, of Calhoun and Resaca, Ga., died Nov. 9, 2006, in Anbar, when a fellow Marine playing with a rifle shot him. The Marine pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in a March 2008 court-martial and was sentenced to 27 months behind bars.• Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Scott, 24, of Ringgold, Ga., died Jan. 23, 2006, in a nonhostile vehicle accident near Taqaddum.• Army 1st Sgt. Aaron Jagger, 43, formerly of Rossville, died Aug. 9, 2006, after an IED detonated near his Humvee in Ramadi.• Army Sgt. James D. Stewart, 29, formerly of Chattanooga and a Fort Oglethorpe native, died June 21, 2005, after an IED detonated near his military cargo truck in Rutbah.• Army Pfc. James W. Price, 22, of Cleveland, Tenn., died Sept. 18, 2004, after an IED hit his convoy vehicle in Baghdad.• Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez, 22, of Dalton, Ga., died June 21, 2004, during an ambush in Anbar province.• Army Spc. Marshall Edgerton, 27, of Rocky Face, Ga., died Dec. 11, 2003, when his camp was attacked with an IED in Ramadi.• Marine Sgt. Brendon Reiss, 23 – a Wyoming native who is buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery because his wife is from Cleveland, Tenn. – died March 23, 2003, in a grenade blast near Nasiriyah.Sources: U.S. Department of Defense, icasualties.org, militarycity.com, Southeast Whitfield High School, newspaper archives.