Military deaths

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq or who died at a military hospital:

Jonathan W. Dean, 25, of Henagar, Ala.; staff sergeant, Army. Dean died Dec. 20 in Baiji, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a noncombat-related incident in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 561st Military Police Company, 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

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Coleman W. Hinkefent, 19, of Coweta, Okla.; private first class, Army. Hinkefent died Dec. 20 at a military hospital in Hamburg, Germany, of liver failure after a short battle with acute leukemia. He had been serving in Iraq and was flown to Germany after becoming sick earlier this month. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Baumholder, Germany.

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Stephen M. Okray, 21, of St. Clair Shores, Mich.; specialist, Army. Okray was among three soldiers who drowned Wednesday when part of a road collapsed and their Humvee rolled into a canal in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

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John P. Pryor, 42, of Moorestown, N.J.; major, Army Reserve. A trauma surgeon, Pryor was killed Thursday when a mortar round exploded near his living quarters in Mosul, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Medical Detachment, Forward Surgical Team at Ft. Totten, N.Y.

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Thomas Reilly Jr., 19, of London, Ky.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Reilly was killed Dec. 21 in a surprise attack on his unit in Iraq’s Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

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Christopher G. Smith, 28, of Grand Rapids, Mich.; staff sergeant, Army. Smith was among three soldiers who drowned Wednesday when part of a road collapsed and their Humvee rolled into a canal in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

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Stephen G. Zapasnik, 19, of Broken Arrow, Okla.; specialist, Army. Zapasnik was among three soldiers who drowned Wednesday when part of a road collapsed and their Humvee rolled into a canal in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

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Sources: Department of Defense and the Associated Press

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

War casualties

TOTAL U.S. DEATHS*

* In and around Iraq: 4,214

* In and around Afghanistan: 559

* Other locations: 66

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

Source: Department of Defense

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latimes.com/wardead

Remembering California’s war dead

He “was the reason why I went to his company. . . . Thanks to him, my marriage was saved. He gave me all the time that I needed to take care of my problems. I will always remember him. I will see you someday my friend.”

-- Marine Sgt.

Angel M. Merced,

posted Tuesday on Marine Sgt. Edgar E. Lopez, 27, of Los Angeles, above

in a family photo with his wife and children, who was killed Aug. 28, 2004,

when he turned his vehicle back to help troops hurt in an explosion and

another bomb went off in Iraq’s Babil province, south of Baghdad

Do you have a memory to share about one of California’s more than 500 fallen troops? Post your remembrances online at the Times’ database of Californians killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, which allows you to search by name, hometown, high school and more, as well as read hundreds of obituaries and view links to personal websites and other news reports.