Military deaths

L.A. Times Archives

Feb. 3, 2008 12 AM PT

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

Tracy Renee Birkman, 41, of New Castle, Va.; sergeant, Army. Birkman died Jan. 25 of noncombat-related injuries in Owesat, Iraq, southwest of Baghdad. She was assigned to the 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

James E. Craig, 26, of Hollywood; sergeant, Army. Craig was among five soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb blew apart their convoy vehicle and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in an ambush in Mosul, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Duncan Charles Crookston, 19, of Denver; private first class, Army. Crookston died Jan. 25 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio after being severely burned Sept. 4 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in Baghdad. Three others were killed in the blast. Crookston was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

Gary W. Jeffries, 37, of Roscoe, Texas; staff sergeant, Army. Jeffries was among five soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb blew apart their convoy vehicle and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in an ambush in Mosul, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Matthew Ryan Kahler, 29, of Granite Falls, Minn.; sergeant first class, Army. Kahler died Jan. 26 at Forward Operating Base Fenty in eastern Afghanistan after being shot in a possible “friendly fire” incident in the mountain village of Waygul. Officials were investigating whether he was shot by an Afghan guard who mistook him for an enemy combatant. Kahler was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy.

Evan A. Marshall, 21, of Athens, Ga.; specialist, Army. Marshall was among five soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb blew apart their convoy vehicle and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in an ambush in Mosul, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Brandon A. Meyer, 20, of Orange; private first class, Army. Meyer was among five soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb blew apart their convoy vehicle and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in an ambush in Mosul, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Mikeal W. Miller, 22, of Albany, Ore.; sergeant, Army. Miller died Jan. 27 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., after suffering severe head injuries July 9 when a roadside bomb exploded under his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Michael A. Norman, 36, of Killeen, Texas; captain, Army. Norman was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

Alan G. Rogers, 40, of Hampton, Fla.; major, Army. Rogers was killed Jan. 27 when an improvised explosive device detonated near him while he was on foot patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

David E. Schultz, 25, of Blue Island, Ill.; first lieutenant, Army. Schultz was killed Thursday when the Convoy Support Center at Scania, Iraq, south of Baghdad, was attacked with indirect fire -- a military term that usually refers to mortar or rocket fire. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Robert J. Wilson, 28, of Boynton Beach, Fla.; staff sergeant, Army. Wilson was killed Jan. 26 when an improvised explosive device detonated near him while he was on foot patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Joshua A.R. Young, 21, of Riddle, Ore.; private, Army. Young was among five soldiers killed Monday when a roadside bomb blew apart their convoy vehicle and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in an ambush in Mosul, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

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

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War casualties

Total U.S. deaths*:

* In and around Iraq**: 3,942

* In and around Afghanistan***: 415

* Other locations***: 63

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

**As of Friday

***As of Jan. 26

Source: Department of Defense