At least 884 US military deaths in Afghan region since 2001

US military deaths in Afghan region at 884

As of Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, at least 884 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.

The AP count is the same as the Defense Department’s tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

At least 683 military personnel died in the Afghan region as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.

Outside the Afghan region, the department reports 73 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, five were the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.

The Defense Department also counts two military civilian deaths.

The latest identifications reported by the military:

—Staff Sgt. Thaddeus S. Montgomery, 29, of West Yellowstone, Mont.; died Wednesday at Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a noncombat related incident; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

—Capt. Paul Pena, 27, of San Marcos, Texas; died Tuesday in Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

—Tech. Sgt. Adam K. Ginett, 29, of Knightdale, N.C.; died Tuesday near Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device; assigned to the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron, Aviano Air Base, Italy.

—Sgt. 1st Class Michael P. Shannon, 52, of Canadensis, Pa.; died Sunday, in Kabul, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a noncombat related incident; assigned to Headquarters, 7th Army and U.S. Army Europe, Heidelberg, Germany.

—Spc. Robert Donevski, 19, of Sun City, Ariz., died Jan. 16 in Abad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

—Two Army soldiers died Jan. 13 at Combat Outpost McClain, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device. The soldiers were assigned to the 118th Military Police Company (Airborne), 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne), 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. Killed were Staff Sgt. Daniel D. Merriweather, 25, of Collierville Tenn.; and Pfc. Geoffrey A. Whitsitt, 21, of Taylors, S.C.

—Staff Sgt. Anton R. Phillips, 31, of Inglewood, Calif.; died Dec. 31, 2009, at Forward Operating Base Methar Lam, Afghanistan; assigned to G Forward Support Company, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Task Force Wildhorse, Forward Operating Base Methar Lam, Afghanistan. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation, the military says.

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