Military deaths

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:

Matthew L. Alexander, 21, of Gretna, Neb.; corporal, Army. Alexander was among six soldiers killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Stryker vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Anthony M. Bradshaw, 21, of San Antonio; corporal, Army. Bradshaw was among six soldiers killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Stryker vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Bradly D. Conner, 41, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; sergeant major, Army. Conner was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle near Hillah, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Robert J. Dixon, 27, of Minneapolis; specialist, Army. Dixon was killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

Kelly B. Grothe, 21, of Spokane, Wash.; specialist, Army Reserve. Grothe was one of two reservists killed May 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near their armored personnel carrier in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to Company B, 321st Engineer Battalion in Hayden Lake, Idaho.

Larry I. Guyton, 22, of Brenham, Texas; private first class, Army. Guyton died May 5 in Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad, of injuries suffered a day earlier when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in the capital, killing a second soldier. Guyton was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Christopher N. Hamlin, 24, of London, Ky.; staff sergeant, Army. Hamlin was killed May 4 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. A second soldier injured in the blast died the next day. Hamlin was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Jason R. Harkins, 25, of Clarkesville, Ga.; sergeant, Army. Harkins was among six soldiers killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Stryker vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

James W. Harrison Jr., 47, of Missouri; colonel, Army. Harrison was one of two soldiers shot to death May 6 outside Pul-i-Charki prison east of Kabul, Afghanistan, by an Afghan soldier described by the Afghan Defense Ministry as mentally ill. The gunman was killed by other Afghan troops. Harrison was assigned to the Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.

Roy L. Jones III, 21, of Houston; private first class, Army. Jones was killed Thursday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Diwaniya, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 984th Military Police Company, 759th Military Police Battalion at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Christopher S. Kiernan, 37, of Virginia Beach, Va.; staff sergeant, Army. Kiernan was killed by a sniper May 6 while on patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Joel W. Lewis, 28, of Sandia Park, N.M.; sergeant, Army. Lewis was among six soldiers killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Stryker vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Kyle A. Little, 20, of West Boylston, Mass.; specialist, Army. Little was one of two soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Salman Pak, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Benning, Ga.

Kenneth N. Mack, 42, of Fort Worth; master sergeant, Marine Corps. Mack was one of two Marines killed May 5 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Virgil C. Martinez, 33, of West Valley, Utah; staff sergeant, Army. Martinez was killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near his unit and it was attacked with small-arms fire while on patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Dan H. Nguyen, 24, of Sugar Land, Texas; specialist, Army. Nguyen was killed Tuesday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Tahrir, Iraq, southeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Walter K. O’Haire, 20, of Lynn, Mass.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. O’Haire was killed in combat Wednesday in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Timothy P. Padgett, 28, of DeFuniak Springs, Fla.; sergeant, Army. Padgett was killed in a firefight Tuesday when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small-arms fire in the Sangin district of southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Charles O. Palmer II, 36, of Manteca, Calif.; corporal, Marine Corps. Palmer was one of two Marines killed May 5 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 8th Communication Battalion, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Jerome J. Potter, 24, of Tacoma, Wash.; private first class, Army. Potter was killed May 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Michael A. Pursel, 19, of Clinton, Utah; corporal, Army. Pursel was among six soldiers killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Stryker vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Sameer Rateb, 22, of Absecon, N.J.; sergeant, Army. Rateb died of noncombat-related injuries May 6 at Forward Operating Base Summerall in Baiji, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Vincenzo Romeo, 23, of Lodi, N.J.; staff sergeant, Army. Romeo was among six soldiers killed May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Stryker vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Wilberto Sabalu Jr., 36, of Chicago; master sergeant, Army. Sabalu was one of two soldiers shot to death May 6 outside the Pul-i-Charki prison east of Kabul, Afghanistan, by an Afghan soldier described by the Afghan Defense Ministry as mentally ill. The gunman was killed by other Afghan troops. Sabalu was assigned to the U.S. Military Police School at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.

Coby G. Schwab, 25, of Puyallup, Wash.; staff sergeant, Army Reserve. Schwab was one of two reservists killed May 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near their armored personnel carrier in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to Company B, 321st Engineer Battalion in Hayden Lake, Idaho.

Blake C. Stephens, 25, of Pocatello, Idaho; sergeant, Army. Stephens was one of two soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Salman Pak, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Benning, Ga.

Jason W. Vaughn, 29, of Iuka, Miss.; sergeant, Army. Vaughn was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Sources: Department of Defense, Times staff reports and the Associated Press

---

War casualties

Total U.S. deaths*:

- In and around Iraq**: 3,382

- In and around Afghanistan***: 321

- Other locations***: 61

* Includes military and Department of Defense-employed civilian personnel killed in action and in nonhostile circumstances

**As of Friday

***As of May 5

Source: Department of Defense