DoD Identifies 4 Army/1 Navy Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers and one sailor who were supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.


Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla., died Sept. 14 in Tunnis, Iraq, of wounds sustained in a non-hostile incident. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.


The incident is under investigation.


Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, 26, of Hurst, Texas, died Sept. 14 in Tunnis, Iraq, of wounds sustained in a non-hostile incident. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.


The incident is under investigation.


Lt. Col. Ralph J. Marino, 46, of Houston, Pa., died Sept 14 at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, from a non-combat related illness. He was assigned to U.S. Army Central Command, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.


Pvt. Michael W. Murdock, 22, of Chocowinity, N.C., died Sept. 11 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered at Combat Outpost Lybert, Afghanistan, when he was struck by enemy fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. OEF casualty.


Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Eichmann A. Strickland, 23, of Arlington, Wash., died Sept. 9 from injuries suffered when the vehicle he was driving hit an improvised explosive device in Afghanya Valley, Afghanistan. OEF casualty.


Strickland was assigned to Combat Service Support Det. 36, Iwakuni, Japan. He was a member of a US Marine embedded Training Team deployed to Afghan Regional Security Integration Command Central.

I'd like to see the statistics on how many deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are directly related to combat verses "common" deaths. One thing that many of us forget is that people die over there in the same ways that we die over here. There are car accidents, murders, deaths as a result of illness, people die of old age, etc. One thing for sure though is that no matter how these service members died, they died while serving their country. God rest the souls of these patriots.

-Chuck B