Two Women Among U.S. Combat Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan

Casualties in this report include soldiers and one Marine who were killed in the past eight days.

Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - For hundreds of years the United States refused to allow women into combat roles. Women were still utilized by the military in a number of ways, but a cultural wall prevented them from being able to serve alongside of men.

Many people historically believed that is was wrong to disallow women from combat. Eventually the ban was lifted and today female service members serve in extremely dangerous roles in war.

Today there is tragic proof that not only do American women serve in combat; they die in battle with sometimes the same frequency as men.

Casualties in this report are from the combat theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan; killed in the last eight days, were four Army soldiers and one Marine.

The Department of Defense announced today the death of Private first class Jessica Y. Sarandrea, 22, of Miami, Florida. She died March 3rd in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked her forward operating base with mortar fire.

She was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Another soldier killed in Iraq this week is Sergeant Jeffrey A. Reed, 23, of Chesterfield, Virginia. He died March 2nd in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was struck by a grenade in Taji, Iraq.

Sgt. Reed was assigned to the 411th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

The Department of Defense announced the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Corporal Donte J. Whitworth, 21, of Noblesville, Indiana, died February 28th as a result of a non-hostile vehicle accident in Anbar province, Iraq.

He was assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.

The federal government reports that Sergeant Simone A. Robinson, 21, of Dixmoor, Illinois, died March 1st at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near her security post on January 17th in Kabul, Afghanistan.

She was assigned to the 634th Brigade Support Battalion of the Illinois Army National Guard, Crestwood, Illinois.

Another casualty from Iraq this week is Specialist Brian M. Connelly, 26, of Union Beach, New Jersey, who died February 26th in Adhamiya, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was struck by an explosive device.

He was assigned to the 40th Engineer Battalion, Task Force 1-6, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany