DOD NEWS
Three U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq
yesterday, and the Defense Department identified four servicemen who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since July 16.
- A soldier assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, died
yesterday due to enemy action while operating in Iraq's Anbar province.
- A Multinational Division Baghdad soldier was killed last night when
terrorists attacked his patrol with small-arms fire south of Baghdad.
- Earlier yesterday, another Multinational Division Baghdad soldier was
killed when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle in eastern Baghdad.
The soldiers' names are being withheld pending notification of next of
kin.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department identified four servicemen killed
recently in Iraq and Afghanistan:
- Army Cpl. Matthew P. Wallace, 22, of Lexington Park, Md., died July
21 in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, of injuries suffered
when a roadside bomb detonated July 16 near his Bradley fighting
vehicle. Wallace was assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
- Marine Cpl. Julian A. Ramon, 22, of Flushing, N.Y., died July 20
while conducting combat operations in Iraq's Anbar province. He was
assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd
Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
- Army Pfc. Derek J. Plowman, 20, of Everton, Ark., died July 20 in
Baghdad from a gunshot wound. Plowman was assigned to the Army National
Guard's 1st Battalion, 142nd Fires Brigade, in Rogers, Ark. This incident
is under investigation, officials said.
- Army Staff Sgt. Eric Caban, 28, of Fort Worth, Texas, died July 19 in
southern Afghanistan of injuries suffered when his combat
reconnaissance patrol came in contact enemy small-arms fire July 18. Caban was
assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort
Bragg, N.C.
Over the past two days, the U.S. military
has transported more than 5,000 American citizens out of Lebanon,
bringing the total number evacuated to more than 10,000, a Defense official
speaking on background said today.
A total of 3,994 American citizens left Lebanon on Saturday. Navy and
contract ships lifted 1,815 from the embattled country today.
State Department officials in Cyprus said the number of Americans
wishing to leave Lebanon may be dropping off.
Israel is facing off against the terrorist group Hezbollah. Israeli
forces are launching air strikes into Hezbollah strongholds in and around
Beirut, and artillery strikes into the south. State Department
officials said roughly 25,000 American citizens were in Lebanon when the
fighting started July 16.
Yesterday's evacuation saw 40 special-needs citizens taken to Cyrus via
helicopters. The USS Whidbey Island transported 792, and the contract
carriers Orient Queen and Rahmah took 983 and 933 Americans,
respectively, to the island nation in the eastern Mediterranean.
DoD also is involved in transporting Americans back to the United
States. U.S. Transportation Command is arranging commercial and military
aircraft to fly the evacuees. Two military flights transported 199
Americans to McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., yesterday. Chartered commercial
flights will take evacuees to Baltimore-Washington International Turrgood
Marshall Airport and Philadelphia International Airport.
Officials in Cyprus said the ships will return to the waters off
Beirut. Others - the USS Trenton, the USS Nashville and the contract carrier
Vittoria M - are evacuating Americans from Lebanon today. Operations
will continue as long as Americans wish to leave the country, said State
Department officials.
