U.S. Military Death Toll in Iraq Reaches 3,000

RAY SUAREZ:

Now, the loss of more than 3,000 Americans in Iraq and its impact back home.

In a moment, we'll hear from three families whose lives have changed after their loved ones died in the war. But first, a statistical profile of the U.S. military personnel killed since the war began in March 2003.

The largest number of deaths for U.S. forces have come in central and western Iraq, roughly 1,100 deaths in Anbar Province alone, home to three cities where there have been fierce battles: Fallujah, Ramadi, and Haditha.

In and around Baghdad, about 800 troops have died.

And the remaining third have been killed in various cities and provinces around the country.

The vast majority, about 2,400, were killed in hostilities. IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, account for more than a third of the deaths. They also account for more than half of the deaths in the last two months.

Nearly 600 were killed in non-hostile situations.

More than 95 percent of American deaths have taken place since President Bush announced the end of major combat operations in May 2003.

Back here in the U.S., the deaths have touched every state and major city, as well as many smaller towns around the country. Not surprisingly, most of the fatalities hailed from major cities and large metropolitan areas, but the rate of loss is disproportionately higher among small towns in the upper Great Plains, Midwest, South and northern New England.

Among the branches of the U.S. military, the Army has suffered the heaviest losses. More than two-thirds of those killed were members of the Army, which includes reservists and Army National Guard.

For the much smaller Marine Corps, the war is exacting a heavy toll, as well. The Corps has lost nearly 900 Marines, including reservists. The Navy has lost more than 60 sailors; the Air Force, just under 30 personnel.

Overall, more than 600 of the 3,000 were reservists. And three military bases — Camp Pendleton in California, Fort Hood in Texas, and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina — have lost more than 800 troops combined.

By gender and race, more than 2,900 of the fallen were men. About 2 percent were women. That's the highest number of women killed in an American war since World War II.

Seventy-four percent of all the fatalities were white; 11 percent were Hispanic or Latino; nearly 10 percent were African-American; about 3 percent were either Asian, American Indian, or native Hawaiian.

About 16 percent of all personnel killed were between 18 and 20 years old; 60 percent were 21 to 30 years old; 18 percent between 31 and 40 years old; and 5 percent were older than 40.

Ninety percent were enlisted members of the Armed Services. About 10 percent were officers.

The number of wounded continues to swell. More than 22,000 other U.S. troops have been injured, many of them grievously, since the war began.