Posted on 01/05/2005 7:59:33 PM PST by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. troops wounded in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003 has surpassed 10,000, the Pentagon said yesterday in a delayed update of its casualty data.
Of the 10,252 total wounded, the Pentagon said 5,396 were unable to return to duty and 4,856 sustained injuries that were light enough to allow them to resume their duties. The total is normally reported each week, but the Pentagon had not updated the figures since Dec. 22, when the number of wounded stood at 9,981.
The number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq stood at 1,335 yesterday, according to the Pentagon.
In a related development, the Pentagon announced that a brigade-size unit of the 28th Infantry Division of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, said to number about 2,400 part-time soldiers, would deploy to Iraq as part of a rotation of troops scheduled to begin in mid-2005.
The 48th Infantry Brigade of the Georgia Army National Guard is the other major National Guard unit in the 2005 rotation, which was outlined by the Pentagon in a Dec. 14 announcement that did not mention the Pennsylvania Guard unit.
Amen to that. And may we not tarnish or in any way diminish the nonor and sacrifice they KIA, WIA, anc all those that continue to serve in all branches of our military, buy in any way saying those past and current operations in both Afganistain and Iraq do not merit our full recognition that they served in honor and purpose to go forth and remove some very very evil people and regiems from the surface of this earth.
Semper Fi and a smart salute at attention to each that serve and have served this greatest of all countries with honor, commitement, and duty. Any American that feels otherwise is somehow screwed and mis-informed at just how great our people in uniform that serve truly are. They most certainly deserve the miniscule 3% raise in pay.
While each death is one too many and each injury means brave people suffer, I remember a time when the hand-wringers predicted we would have 10,000 dead and countless wounded in the capture of Baghdad.
Our soldiers have been courageous and effective by any measure in their mission over there.
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