Guardian: Florida Has Fewer Killed, Wounded Per 100,000 in Iraq Than U.S Average

Posted Oct 23, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Oct 23, 2011 at 06:12 PM

For what it’s worth, the number of Floridians killed and wounded in Iraq is below the national ratio, according to numbers crunched by the Guardian.

According to those figures, Florida has seen 190 deaths in Iraq – 156 from combat - and 1,438 wounded. That equals 1.02 deaths per 100,000 population and 7.7 wounded per the same figure.

The national average, according to the Guardian figures, is 1.43 deaths per 100,000 population and 10.29 wounded per the same figure.

Not sure why this is, or whether these figures are any consolation to anyone, but there you have it. If you want to check the numbers in your state, click here.

In a week when President Barack Obama announced nearly all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by year’s end, fulfilling the SOFA agreement set forth by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, a soldier from Richmond, Va., died in Babil province. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, seven more U.S. service members died this past week.

An Army National Guardsman and two Army Rangers died Oct.22, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

          Killed were:

          1st. Lt. Ashley I. White, 24, of Alliance, Ohio, assigned to 230th Brigade Support Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, North Carolina National Guard, Goldsboro, N.C.

          Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer B. Domeij, 29, of San Diego, Calif., and Pfc. Christopher A. Horns, 20, of Colorado Springs, Colo., both assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Chief Petty Officer Raymond J. Border, 31, of West Lafayette, Ohio, died Oct. 19 while assessing a route in Paktika province, Afghanistan.  Border, a Navy Seabee, was assigned to a provincial reconstruction team in Paktika province, Afghanistan.  His home unit was Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 74 in Gulfport, Miss.

Staff Sgt. Jorge M. Oliveira, 33, of Newark, N.J., died Oct. 19 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.  He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 113th Infantry Regiment, 50th Brigade Combat Team, Riverdale, N.J.

Staff Sgt. James R. Leep Jr., 44, of Richmond, Va., died Oct. 17 in Babil province, Iraq.  He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team, Portsmouth, Va.

Spc. Michael D. Elm, 25, of Phoenix, Ariz., died Oct. 14 in Khowst, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Knox, Ky.

Staff Sgt. Houston M. Taylor, 25, of Hurst, Texas, died Oct. 13, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

There have now been 1,796 casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom and 4,481 in Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.