America Sacrifice in Afghanistan Not Alone

Americans are not the only ones paying the ultimate price overseas.

Flags of NATO and ISAF along with Union Jack and U.S. flag, speak to the cross section of people who comprise Coalition forces.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Over the years we have tried to keep our readers abreast of casualties and related human statistics in the wars overseas. Members of the national and international communities have been critical in the past over the fact that we concentrate on U.S. casualties, when in fact there are so many from other nations- who are never recognized here.

Kabul Airport in Afghanistan

In this report we made it a point to list all of the people who died in the conflicts overseas between 24 March and 30 March. It is helpful for Americans to realize that other nations are also paying a toll fighting the war in Afghanistan.

In fact there is a huge military contingent in Afghanistan. I spent time around soldiers from Canada, Scotland, England, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Mongolia, and other nations.

In Iraq the only military group present in numbers beyond the U.S., at least when I was there, were Ugandan. Iraq has far more of an exclusively American presence.

One American referenced in this review of casualties was deployed to Africa.

A member of the Coalition forces in southern Afghanistan was killed 30 March in hostile fire, when a roadside bomb exploded.

There is very little information at this point, but we know that the individual was attached to ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force.

U.S. Army Private first class James L. Miller, 21 years old, of Yakima, Washington, died 29 March in Dashat, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

James Miller was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Randy M. Heck, 20 years old, of Steubenville, Ohio, died 28 March from a non-hostile incident in Djibouti, Africa.

Randy Heck was assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

British Army Lance Corporal of Horse Johathan Woodgate, 27 years old, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, died 26 March in the Sangin district centre of Helmand province, from hostile fire sustained during a suicide bomber attack.

Jonathan Woodgate was attached to the Household Cavalry Regiment, Brigade Reconnaissance Force. His duty station was not released.

A NATO servicemember whose origin was not yet released, died 27 March in southern Afghanistan from hostile fire and an attack involving an improvised explosive device, or roadside bomb.

While little is clear at this point, we know that the individual in this report was attached to ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force.

A 19-year old British Army rifleman from Chatham, England, was killed in combat in Afghanistan's Helmand province 27 March. The individual, whose name was not yet released, died from injuries suffered during a grenade attack that happened in Sangin district centre.

This soldier was part of 3rd Battalion, The Rifles. There was no reference to a duty station.

U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jacob A. Ross, 19 years old, of Gillette, Wyoming, died 24 March, while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Jacob Ross was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Funeral services for L/Cpl Ross are scheduled for 10:00 AM on Thursday, April 1, at Family Life Church, 480 S. Highway 50, in Gillette.

As these attacks continue to take place, it is important that no foreign casualties have been reported in Iraq for a significant period of time. Our records indicate that the last time a non-U.S. soldier killed in Iraq, was on 2 May 2008, when Georgian Army Lieutenant Giorgi Margiev died in a hostile fire incident involving an IED attack, in Iraq's Diyala province. Giorgi Margiev was attached to 13 Battalion of the 1st Infantry Brigade.

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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), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others 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. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com