Soldiers bear the remains of Army Spc. Michael A. Dahl, Jr., of Moreno Valley, Calif., from a transport plane at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.
Soldiers bear the remains of Army Spc. Michael A. Dahl, Jr., of Moreno Valley, Calif., from a transport plane at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.
The U.S. has reached the grim milestone of 1,000 or more dead service members killed by hostile action in Afghanistan.
The deaths of five U.S. service members Tuesday from a suicide bomb attack in Kabul brought the toll from hostile fire the four digit mark, according to reports.
An excerpt from the New York Times:
On Tuesday, the toll of American dead in Afghanistan passed 1,000, after a suicide bomb in Kabul killed at least five United States service members. Having taken nearly seven years to reach the first 500 dead, the war killed the second 500 in fewer than two. A resurgent Taliban active in almost every province, a weak central government incapable of protecting its people and a larger number of American troops in harms way all contributed to the accelerating pace of death.
The NYT also reports that the age is falling for U.S. service members dying in Afghanistan, that those losing their lives are increasingly green soldiers.
In many ways, Private Fitzgibbon typified the new wave of combat deaths. American troops are dying younger, often fresh out of boot camp, military records show. From 2002 to 2008, the average age of service members killed in action in Afghanistan was about 28; last year, it dropped to 26. This year, the more than 125 troops killed in combat were on average 25 years old.
The website icasualties.org reports somewhat different numbers for the U.S. military dead in Afghanistan. It puts the number of U.S. dead at 997 after including Tuesday's five dead.
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