Many Killed in Fallujah U.S. Reservists

ROBERT BURNS

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - At least nine Army and Marine reservists died in Iraq on the first full day of the Fallujah offensive, the highest single-day death toll for part-time troops since U.S. forces entered Iraq in March 2003.

Most of those killed since Monday in Fallujah, Baghdad, Mosul and other cities where insurgents are active have not been identified by military authorities, so it's not possible to give a complete account beyond Monday.

Of the nine reservists killed Monday, six were members of the Marine Corps Reserve, two were Army National Guard and one was Army Reserve.

An Army National Guard soldier from California also was killed on Sunday in Baghdad.

Nine is the highest number of part-time soldiers and Marines to have died in Iraq on a single day. The only comparable surge in deaths of reservists was in June 2004 when nine died in a four-day span, according to Pentagon records.

In the Fallujah offensive alone, at least 18 U.S. troops had been killed in action and 178 wounded by Thursday, according to Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, commander of the 1st Marine Division in Fallujah. Five Iraqi soldiers had been killed and 34 wounded, Natonski told reporters.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him to El Salvador that U.S. troops fighting to secure Fallujah "are well along in that task, and they will finish it successfully."

On the question of whether insurgents had fled the beleaguered city before the operation began, Rumsfeld said: "I have no doubt that some people did leave before it started. We also know there are a number of hundreds that didn't and have been killed. Others have been captured."

Rumsfeld said Fallujah must be eliminated as a "safe haven for extremists, former regime elements and terrorists."

The military's top officer, meanwhile, said in Washington on Thursday that no one should think that success for U.S. forces in Fallujah will mean the end of the insurgency. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was pleased with progress so far.

"From our viewpoint this is very, very successful," Myers said. "If anybody thinks that Fallujah is going to be the end of the insurgency in Iraq, that was never the objective, never our intention, and even never our hope."

Myers spoke as U.S.-led forces steadily advanced through Fallujah on the fourth day of an operation aimed at making the city safe enough so residents can vote in January's planned elections.

"The whole point is not how many insurgents are killed or captured but the return of Fallujah to a status where the people of Fallujah can go about their business without intimidation and where, hopefully, come January, we'll have elections and where they can participate," Myers said.

The Pentagon's reporting of casualties since the Fallujah offensive began Monday has been slower and more incomplete than normal, in part because the military believes that detailed information is of potential value to the insurgent forces they are battling in the Sunni Arab city.

It is unclear how many of the nine reservists killed Monday were directly involved in the Fallujah fighting. Several clearly were not; Spc. Bryan L. Freeman, of the Army Reserve's 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion in Warwick, R.I., for example, died of wounds sustained in Baghdad. Two members of the Kansas Army National Guard were killed in a car bombing in Baghdad.

National Guard and Reserve troops have played a prominent role in Iraq from the start of combat in 2003, and their numbers have grown in recent months. They now make up more than 40 percent of the total U.S. force in Iraq. There is no information on how many are now in Fallujah.

Among the active-duty soldiers killed in Fallujah was Command Sgt. Maj. Steven W. Faulkenburg, 45, of Huntingburg, Ind. He was the senior noncommissioned officer in the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. The Pentagon said he was struck by small arms fire Tuesday.

ON THE NET

Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.net

AP Wire | 11/11/2004 | Many Killed in Fallujah U.S. Reservists

Fallujah Wounded Arriving by the Dozens at U.S. Military Hospital in Germany
The Associated Press
Published: Nov 11, 2004


FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - A steady stream of wounded from Iraq, mostly from fighting in Fallujah, has begun arriving at the U.S. military's main hospital in Europe, an official said Thursday.
Two planeloads with around 90 wounded who could not be treated in Iraq were expected later Thursday at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, said spokeswoman Marie Shaw.

"We are very busy," Shaw said. "We have seen an increase of patient arrival since the outbreak of the Fallujah conflict."

She said 38 injured soldiers arrived on Monday,

23 more on Tuesday, and 64 on Wednesday.

Shaw said the hospital was expanding capacity to cope with the additional numbers of patients. "We have expanded our intensive care unit here with about 10 more beds, and we have expanded our medical surgical wards with about 40 more beds," she said.

Including the expansion, the hospital, the largest military medical facility outside the United States, now has 27 intensive care beds.

Landstuhl has long been a destination for wounded from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's normally equipped with some 162 beds, the hospital's Web site says, with an expansion capability of up to 310 beds. The center also provides specialized care for the more than 250,000 additional American military personnel and their families based in Europe.

All the wounded who have come so far from Fallujah are U.S. soldiers, although U.S. forces are fighting alongside Iraqi forces in Fallujah.

Soldiers' Angels

To ALL of our military forces and our International allies, this American couple treasures and honors all that you have done for all peoples wishing and seeking freedom. Without your sacrific, love and courage, many (including America) would see the loss of freedom.

On this day honoring you, it is not enough to say that we don't know HOW to say Thank You; no word(s) could ever express it enough. You have given so much more. Please know that you are loved, and remembered, not only today, but everyday. Prayers are offered up daily for you and your loved ones.

May the Lord watch over you, may He always bless your efforts, may He safeguard your every move. When it is time to rest or find some moment to reflect, may it be filled with memories you treasure.


We remain indebted,

Mr. & Mrs. Craig C. Smith
AMERICA
Soldiers' Angels

A U.S. soldier arrives at the scene of a car bomb attack in central Baghdad November 11, 2004. U.S. troops hunted rebels in the battered Iraqi city of Falluja on Thursday, but rebels hit back with an armed rampage in Mosul and a powerful car bomb that killed seven people in the busy Baghdad square. The Falluja assault has provoked an upsurge in violence elsewhere in Iraq as happened in April during an earlier failed U.S. attempt to subdue the country's most rebellious city. Photo by Akram Saleh/Reuters Yahoo! News - World Photos - Reuters



A US soldier fires a mortar on suspected insurgents in Fallujah. Black smoke curled into the sky above Fallujah as US troops picked through ruined streets and clashed with pools of resistance.(AFP/Patrick Baz)

Smoke billows from US targeted areas in the restive Sunni Muslim city of Fallujah. US marines said they discovered three Iraqi hostages inside the basement of houses in Fallujah.(AFP/Patrick Baz) Yahoo! News - World Photos - AFP





A masked insurgent carries a police flak jacket and rocket propelled grenade launcher after a police station was attacked in Mosul November 11, 2004. Insurgents stole weapons and brazenly roamed the streets of Mosul as Iraq 's third largest city appeared to be sliding out of control, residents said. (Namir Noor-Eldeen/Reuters)

U.S. forces are continuing their ground assault on insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

U.S. troops bombarded targets in Fallujah with renewed airstrikes and artillery Thursday, hitting mortar positions and sniper nests.

U.S. military officials say Marines and army units had gained a large presence in much of the city, but were still meeting pockets of resistance from insurgents.

Meanwhile, military officials say U.S. troops found and freed an Iraqi who had been held hostage by the insurgents. They say the man had been beaten and appeared malnourished.

Insurgents sought to open a second front Wednesday, mounting attacks outside Fallujah that killed 28 people - including Iraqi troops, civilians, and an American soldier.

VOA News - US Forces Tighten Grip On Fallujah

Thank you, veterans.
Celebrate Veterans Day with a donation to SoldiersAngels Operation Holiday Spirit, which aims to put holiday cheer into the hands of ever serviceman or woman stationed abroad in harm's way.
HughHewitt.com

Hugh, Thank you!

Soldiers and families get a happier holiday season

Organization helps match gift givers to troops in Iraq
BY CARA SPAZIANI

For The Dominion Post

This holiday season, Capt.

Soldiers and families get a happier holiday season -- Appeared November 11, 2004 - News articles from The Dominion Post

Comforting 'ordinary heroes'

'Soldiers' Angels' supports U.S. troops

By Anissa V. Rivera , Staff Writer

PASADENA -- "The story is, people say yes,' Patti Patton-Bader says in the bright light of her living room.
This is where the 51-year-old woman who calls herself "the ordinary mother of an ordinary hero' spearheads operations for Soldiers' Angels, a nonprofit group whose motto is "May no soldier go unloved.'

Patton-Bader, a great-niece of Gen. George Patton, founded the group when her son, Army Sgt. Brandon Varn, was deployed to Iraq last year. Her son returned home safely and is now stationed at Fort Sill, Okla.

During Varn's tour of duty, Patton-Bader sent him weekly letters and packages full of toiletries and snacks she later found he'd shared with others.

"I was shocked when he told me what we'd sent him was gone, but then he said, 'Mom, there are so many people here who don't get any mail at all,'' she said.

Mostly homebound from complications of the liver disease hepatitis C, Patton-Bader began a letter-writing campaign online. Within a few months, Soldiers' Angels went from one mother writing a few letters to an Internet community of more than 1,000 members, Patton-Bader said. Today, its 20,000 volunteers come from California, New York, North Carolina and even Australia.

The group sends cards, letters and care packages to deployed troops and wounded soldiers, sailors and Marines in three military hospitals, including Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany. They also support allied troops from the United Kingdom, Poland and Australia who are serving in Iraq.

Staffed by volunteers, the foundation's members use all donations to buy supplies for service members or help their families, according to Ana-Marie Smith, 43, of West Covina, the nonprofit's president.

"My dad was in the Navy 23 years and my husband served 10 years so I was brought up with a strong belief and respect for our military,' Smith said. "You send one a postcard and they're so grateful. I was in tears when one corpsman e- mailed, 'Don't forget me out here.''

From helping a soldier's wife recover and repair her car after it was stolen, to sewing American flags and blankets or packing backpacks full of supplies for the wounded, Soldiers' Angels include veterans, military families, celebrities and many people who have no connection to the military.

"Hugh Hewlitt helps us with his radio show, the producers of 'Third Watch' and 'West Wing' have come out to help, West Point is always ready to jump in,' said Patton-Bader, who puts in 10-12 hours a day mustering her forces. "I fly the world with my laptop. It's incredible the work that's been done. Our volunteers are tireless. I'm so proud of them.'

Local angels have gotten donations from Methodist Hospital in Arcadia and Kaiser Permanente in Baldwin Park and support from Rep. Adam Schiff, D- Pasadena, and actor Ben Stein.

Debe Tomney, 46, of Lake Forest, serves as the group's vice president. She said they get about 300 e-mails a day, a mix of military personnel asking for help and those wanting to adopt a soldier.

"I don't have anyone in my family in the military but I do this because I could be that mother of an 18- or 19-year-old serving in the war,' Tomney said. Volunteer Sue Marzorati, 59, of Pasadena helps publicize the angels' mission at Holy Family Church in South Pasadena, where she works. Parishioners have sewn sand scarves, fabric kerchiefs soldiers use over their faces during sand storms.

"There's no such thing as too much love and support for those who are willing to put their lives on the line for us,' Marzorati said. "You can't believe how the guys appreciate even just a card from someone they don't even know. This is an easy way to do something that's so important.'

Gearing up for the holidays, the angels have sent $400 each to 15 units in Iraq to buy decorations or even gifts for every soldier. They also hope to send 140,000 Christmas stockings filled with treats such as a phone card to troops by Nov. 20. They have about 30,000 now.

"Think how it must feel to spend three hours in battle and come in all shot up and receive a blanket with a note that says, 'Dear Wounded Hero, this was made for you,'' Patton-Bader said. "A family of one soldier told me when they came to visit him, first he held up his Purple Heart then he held up his blanket. The nurse said when he got it, a light came over this boy and he started healing.'

For more information, call (626) 398-3131 or visit http://www.soldiersangels.com .



Pasadena Star-News - News


Patti Patton-Bader 51, of Pasadena, founded Soldiers Angels in 2003 with Ana-Marie Smith 43 of West Covina (President of Soldiers Angels. Patti homebound, because of Hepatitis C, runs the nonprofit with her laptop and has attracted 20,000 helpers all over the country and the world. Soldiers Angels volunteers, who network through the Internet have sent care packages, sewed blankets and sand scarves, medical supplies and even helped soldiers families stateside. Their Christmas campaign is to send 149,000 Christmas stockings to troops to various places in the USA and the World. (Staff photo by Walt Mancini)

Thank you for your service.
May God Bless You All!


Iraq War Today

The Soldier is My Friend
"Dedicated to soldiers and veterans of the U. S. Military"
By: Norma E. Wright, Copyright 2004, normaewright@aol.com, www.thefreedompage.org

I have a friend who may not know or ever call my name,
A friend who may not visit, but I thank them just the same.

My friend is called the soldier who's on duty day and night,
For me to pledge allegiance, they have fought and paid the price.

Where would we be today without the brave hearts who have served,
So we can wave "Old Glory"; so our voices can be heard.

And what would life be like today without the many soldiers,
Who walked into the jaws of death with guns upon their shoulders.

Life would not be as great today, with freedom in our halls,
And we'd live in oppression and great fear would grip us all.

So when you see a soldier, you should thank your God above,
For here's someone who represents the greatest gift of love.

And when you pledge allegiance, you should see a uniform,
Of those who walked through battlefields and weathered many storms.

We cannot take for granted what is takes to pay the price,
And be a U. S. Soldier who has made a sacrifice.

And whether they are fighting on the ground or in the air,
Or sailing on the ocean, we can rest assured they're there.

Oh what a peace it is for me to hear the sound of jets,
Of flying Air Force pilots who have bravely passed the tests.

And what a happy feeling when a ship pulls into port,
With smiling Navy Sailors who were holding down the fort.

Then what a sense of pride I have to see in my hometown,
A soldier in the Army who is serving on the ground.

And then there are the soldiers who are training on a team,
They're proud and they're courageous, the United States Marines.

If you have fought a battle or have lived through several wars,
And freed a camp of prisoners, saved a life or fed the poor.

Or if you've volunteered to go to places I've not been,
I salute you, U. S. Soldier, National Guard and Veteran friend.

For you have made the difference in America today,
And when I see the stars and stripes, I see a soldiers face.

A fearless face of courage lined with dignity and truth,
A face with battle scars or an enlisted face of youth.

And whether you are young or old, still serving or retired,
I live my life in debt to you who's walked through many fires.

I sleep in peace at night because you will defend our borders,
To go where you are needed, you will follow any orders.

So thank you, may God bless you and this country you defend,
This land is what it is because the soldier is my friend.

- "Serving God and Supporting Our Troops"

Fallujah wounded arrive in Europe
From correspondents in Frankfurt, Germany
11nov04

A STEADY stream of wounded from Iraq, mostly from fighting in Fallujah, has begun arriving at the US military's main hospital in Europe, an official said tonight.

Two planeloads with around 90 wounded who could not be treated in Iraq were expected later at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre, said spokeswoman Marie Shaw.
"We are very busy," Ms Shaw said. "We have seen an increase of patient arrival since the outbreak of the Fallujah conflict."

She said 38 injured soldiers arrived on Monday, 23 more on Tuesday, and 64 on yesterday.

Ms Shaw said the hospital was expanding capacity to cope with the additional numbers of patients. "We have expanded our intensive care unit here with about 10 more beds, and we have expanded our medical surgical wards with about 40 more beds," she said.









Including the expansion, the hospital, the largest US military medical facility outside the US, now has 27 intensive care beds.

Landstuhl has long been a destination for wounded from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is normally equipped with 162 beds, the hospital's website says, with an expansion capability of up to 310 beds.

The centre also provides specialized care for the more than 250,000 additional American military personnel and their families based in Europe.

All the wounded who have come so far from Fallujah are US soldiers, although Americans are fighting alongside Iraqi forces in Fallujah.



Herald Sun: Fallujah wounded arrive in Europe [11nov04]

US troops capture most of Fallujah, Allawi relatives kidnapped (AFP): "AFP - US-led troops had occupied most of Fallujah and were confident of taking full control, as kidnappers pledged to kill Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's relatives unless the assault stopped."

In Yahoo! News: Iraq



Huge Explosion Hits Central Baghdad (AP): "AP - A huge explosion hit the heart of Baghdad Thursday, sending up plumes of thick black smoke above the central part of the capital."

In Yahoo! News: Iraq



Trials for three US soldiers in Iraq prisoner abuse scandal to move to US (AFP): "AFP - The US military said that the court martials early next year of three US soldiers accused of Iraqi prisoner abuse in the Abu Ghraib scandal will move from Iraq to the United States."

In Yahoo! News: Iraq



US keeps heat on Falluja rebels: "US and Iraqi forces make new efforts to take the part of the city of Falluja still in insurgent hands."

In BBC: Conflict with Iraq



Palestinian leader Arafat dies: "Yasser Arafat, who triumphantly forced his people's plight into the world spotlight but failed to achieve his lifelong quest for Palestinian statehood, has died aged 75."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



Peace now top priority, says Blair: "Prime Minister Tony Blair said peace in the Middle East was the international community's "highest priority" as he expressed his condolences to the family of Yasser Arafat."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



More soldiers 'to join Black Watch': "More Scottish troops could be set to join the Black Watch in Iraq, it has been claimed."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



US advance rounds up Iraq rebels: "US forces bottled up rebels in a narrow strip of Fallujah after a stunningly swift advance that seized control of 70% of the militant stronghold."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



Welcome to Baghdad, Collaborators!: "The American people are "collaborators" now? I sincerely hope not, since one Iraq is bad enough. (Commentary, Christopher)"

In Back to Iraq 2.0