Average Age Among 11 Recent War Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan is 32

Seven of the eleven deaths took place in Iraq, the remaining four occurring in Afghanistan.

(SALEM, Ore.) - This report accounts for the most recent eleven U.S. casualties in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that have been reported by the Department of Defense over the period of the last 11 days.

An Army Major from Arizona who was sixty-years old; Major Steven Hutchison, was the oldest U.S. soldier to have been killed in Iraq, and he was a Vietnam Veteran. In fact the average age of the eleven who died is 32. Two U.S. female service members are among those who died.

Ten of the eleven killed died in combat, unlike many recent reports which have involved a PTSD-stricken American soldier who went on a shooting spree, and other non-combat related incidents.

Seven of the eleven deaths took place in Iraq, the remaining four occurring in Afghanistan.

Among those killed are three U.S. Army soldiers who died May 21st near Baghdad, Iraq. They were killed on a dismounted patrol, when enemy forces attacked their unit using improvised explosive devices.

Major Jason E. George was one of the soldiers killed in the attack. The 38-year old Army Reservist's hometown is Tehachapi, California. He was assigned to the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

First Lieutenant Leevi K. Barnard was also killed in the May 21st attack. The 28-year old National Guardsman is from Mount Airy, North Carolina. He was assigned to the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Another soldier who died that day is Sergeant Paul F. Brooks of Joplin, Missouri. The 34-year old National Guardsman was assigned to the 935th Aviation Support Battalion, Springfield, Missouri.

The DoD says the circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

Chief Warrant Officer-3 Brent S. Cole, 38, of Reedsville, West Virginia, died May 22nd, when his helicopter went down in Tarin Kwot, Afghanistan.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Sergeant 1st Class Brian Naseman of New Bremen, Ohio was killed in Taji, Iraq May 22nd. The 36-year old soldier died in a non-combat related incident.

He was assigned to the 108th Forward Support Company, attached to 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Sussex, Wisconsin.

The DoD reports that the circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

A U.S. Air Force First-Lieutenant, 25-year old Roslyn L. Schulte of St. Louis, Missouri, died May 20th near Kabul, Afghanistan of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.

She was assigned to the Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces Command, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

Two soldiers were killed May 15th at Forward Operating Base Shank in Afghanistan, when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces using small-arms fire in Chak, Afghanistan.

The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, New York.

Staff Sergeant Esau I. De la Pena-Hernandez was killed in combat that day. He was 25 years old and was from La Puente, California.

Another soldier killed that day is Sergeant Carlie M. Lee, III of Birmingham, Alaska. She was 23-years old.

Specialist David A. Schaefer Jr. of Belleville, Illinois who was 27-years old, died May 16th in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit.

The soldier was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade in Schweinfurt, Germany.

The DoD reports that U.S. Army Corporal Ryan C. McGhee, 21, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, died May 13th from wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces while conducting combat operations in Central Iraq.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgia.

Major Steven Hutchison of Scottsdale, Arizona who was 60-years old, died May 10th in Basrah of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Al Farr, Iraq.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas. Major Steven Hutchison is the oldest U.S. soldier to date, to be killed in the Iraq war.

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
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