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I am so fortunate. My son in Afghanistan has a phone and calls whenever he is able. He gets a chance to check and reply to email at least weekly as well. So those days, no matter what havoc reigns in the news, I know he is alright.

But oddly, I am still emotionally at sea in a very small boat.
The day after the phone call is the worst, I feel teary-eyed and volatile as hot whiskey in an iron pan on a gas stove.
I want to delete my entire online life on such days, as if eradicating something will fill the need to destroy threatening things I cannot reach.

I am resisting. Really. I am telling myself the rent here is paid through March of next year and to keep posting even if nobody reads. I am both restless and exhausted at once. I scarcely dare go out in public—not sure what my reaction would be to face to face confrontation of some of the current idiocies abroad.

But yes, on any given day, I want my medical coma and blackness that hides all fears. And reading a story about an American trained Afghan soldier turning his gun on his American trainers does not help me out in the fear department.

If you think the news coverage about the war, and what happens to men seems scarce, coverage on what happens to women at war is even more scarce. News coverage and military data keeping about military suicides is similarly sketchy. Even in an ever more unpopular war, suicide is seen as a weakness of the individual rather than an indictment of the way the war is going. And it gets even more obscure when one re-examines the confluence of women at war AND suicide. Suicide for males may be weakness revealed, but to look at the military list of female suicides, it covers alleged sexual promiscuity and other types of personal culpability as well. And it is a convenient folder for hiding male behaviors the military would prefer to dismiss as boys being boys. Trouble is, the “toys” these boys have are military women treated as disposable objects.

Let’s review a couple of the worst stories, shall we? Like the continued obfuscation about Lavena Johnson, for instance. Lavena Johnson’s death was listed as a suicide, and had her father never opened her casket to look one final time on his beloved daughter, it might have stayed that way. But her mourning father saw bruising on her face, and when he looked at her body, he wondered how the gunshot wounds matched the military story of her shooting herself. And why was her body burnt? Why were her genitals covered with chemical burns? Lavena Johnson appeared to have been raped and murdered, and although her body was suspiciously found in a contractor owned (KBR) tent, the signs of rape never adequately investigated. She died in 2005, and still, her death is listed as suicide. Apparently the US Army still prefers a convenient fictional suicide to investigating murder and rape of an American black woman. The military still contends that after starting the fire to burn her journal, she killed herself in embarrassment over having contracted genital warts.

Really? Seriously? So much has been written about this case, and yet her father cannot get Congress to seriously seek answers for what happened to her: “Private LaVena Johnson’s nose was broken, teeth were loose, one eye was concave and there were abrasions over her body. The supposed M-16 hole to the head was far too small for the revolver-sized exit wound, and was on the wrong side of her skull for a right-handed woman to have pulled the trigger. Her genital area showed evidence of acid, perhaps used to destroy DNA evidence. She had white military gloves glued to her burned hands.” All this time, and no answers, the Army insists all the injuries to her face were from the ‘backblast’ effect of the M-16. And why would she suicide in a KBR tent? Veterans have told me tales of contractors behaving as if American military women were their private stock of Playboy bunnies; why is this not addressed? Seems some serious ass-covering was operative. “The death was initially taped off as a crime scene but the investigation was shut down by a general’s order.”
Dr. Johnson, seeking his daughter’s killer, found ten other families whose daughters were alleged suicides: all had rape as common history! He believes he knows who killed Lavena, an officer quickly gotten out of country two days after her death—a man still free.

The Army has not done a good job on being honest about female soldiers and the causes of death, and some of the contracting firms are even worse. It throws credibility to the winds, as even a men’s magazine pointed out in a story examining Kamisha Block’s murder. Both Block and Johnson were failed by the military chain of command, both sets of parents were lied to about cause of death. Block’s parents were told a friendly fire incident killed their daughter, when she was in fact shot to death by an abusive supervisor who was obsessed with her.

I urge you to read the long Alternet article because although it is from 2008 and is several pages long, every bit of information is necessary to understand the additional risks women in the military face daily on and off the battlefield. The military treats suicides as if they are shameful, a sign of lack of proper attitude—when the despairing person was male. But if the dead body is female? Well, then suicide is a comfortable, conveniently emotional excuse to ignore abuse, rape, and murder. More than a flag covers these women’s caskets—an invisible pall of shame and disgrace is pulled over the incidences of their deaths.

I don’t care if you let your little boys grow up to be cowboys, folks; but until the military establishment can ‘fess up the truths about the numerous non-hostile deaths of female troops, do NOT let your little girls grow up to be soldiers, sailors, or BAMs, ok?

The moon is half full in the sky, and it seems the flights of flag draped caskets must be at least that full.
My sincere sympathy to the families and loved ones of the fallen troops.

US Army PFC Nathaniel D. Garvin, 20, of Radcliff, Ky., died July 12 at Forward Operating Base Frontenac, Afghanistan (Kandahar, Afghanistan), of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

US Army Spc. Christopher J. Moon, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., died July 13 at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device on July 6 in Afghanistan.

Three US Army men died July 13 in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit with rifle, rocket propelled grenade, and small arms fire.

1st Lt. Christopher S. Goeke, 23, of Minn.
SSG. Christopher T. Stout, 34, of Worthville, Ky.
SSG. Sheldon L. Tate, 27, of Hinesville, Ga.

US Army Pvt. Brandon M. King, 23, of Tallahassee, Fla., died July 14 in Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.

On July 14, in Afghanistan, four US Army men were killed when their military vehicle encountered an IED:

Spc. Chase Stanley, 21, of Napa, Calif.
Spc. Jesse D. Reed, 26, of Orefield, Penn.
Spc. Matthew J. Johnson, 21, of Maplewood, Minn.
Sgt. Zachary M. Fisher, 24, of Ballwin, Mo.

On July 15, two US Army men were killed in Afghanistan by the explosion of an IED:

SFC Class John H. Jarrell, 32, of Brunson, S.C.
SGT Leston M. Winters, 30, of Sour Lake, Texas.

US Marine Staff Sgt. Justus S. Bartelt, 27, of Polo, Ill., died July 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Sgt. Jesse R. Tilton, 23, of Decatur, Ill., died July 16 at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, of wounds sustained July 13 when insurgents attacked his unit in Afghanistan, with rifle, rocket propelled grenade, and small arms fire.

US Marine Cpl. Dave M. Santos, 21, of Rota, Marianas Islands of the Pacific, died July 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (Possibly killed by a fellow Marine.)

US Army Sgt. Matthew W. Weikert, 29, of Jacksonville, Ill., died July 17 in Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated.

US Army Sgt. Justin B. Allen, 23, of Coal Grove, Ohio, died July 18 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot by insurgents while conducting combat operations.

US Marine Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, Ark., died July 18 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Sgt. Anibal Santiago, 37, of Belvidere, Ill., died July 18 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained July 17 in a non-combat related incident.

US Army 1st Lt. Robert N. Bennedsen, 25, of Vashon, Wash., died July 18 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device exploded.

Flags courtesy of ITA’s
Flags of All Countries used with permission.

On July 13, in Afghanistan, three members of the British Royal Gurkha Rifles were murdered in an RPG attack by a brother soldier in the Afghan military, he had apparently been turned by the Taliban. Killed were:
Major James J. Bowman, 34 of Salisbury, England
Lt. Neal Turkington, 26 of Craigavon, N. Ireland
Cpl Arjun Purja Pun, 33, of Khibang village, Nepal

A British Royal Marine was likewise killed on July 13 in Afghanistan when his unit was hit with small arms fire:
Marine Matthew Harrison, 23, of Herfordshire, England

Sr. Aircraftsman Kinikki Griffiths, 24, of England (hometown unreported) died in Afghanistan on 16 July as the result of a vehicular accident.

Marine David T. Crooks, 26, of Birmingham, England was killed in Afghanistan on July 16 by an IED explosion.

SSG Brett G. Linley, 29, of Birmingham, England was killed in Afghanistan on July 17 by an IED explosion.

SGT David T. Monkhouse (age unknown) of Carlisle, England, was killed in Afghanistan on July 17 by an IED explosion.

In my continuing search for names of military suicides,
as found in a story in the Washington Post, Marine Maj. Jeff Hackett,on June 5, 2010, died a suicide when he shot himself, leaving a note saying “I deserve Hell.” In my opinion, he had already been there.

Finally, now that Bush is out of office, there is a trickle turning to a tsunami of stories of the horrors of war. Among them, a an older Salon work that deserves your notice. And among the Marines, suicide is the largest cause of death after combat. And I just love how they always list the number one “reason” as being “romantic problems”. Cause yeah, it isn’t PTSD, despair over war or anything like that, right? It’s those damned “Dear John” letters—that’s all. It couldn’ t be multiple deployments finally chipping away at eroding mental and physical reserves or anything like that, now could it?

The DOD statistics below rather gloss over the issue, which newspapers like to headline in full shock value instead. And the military keeps saying their suicide prevention methods work. Not. So. Much.
As long as PTSD, suicidal depression, and other mental ailments are treated more like discipline problems than illness, it will not get better.

From the Dept. of Defense:
” The Army released suicide data today for the month of June. Among active duty soldiers, there were 21 potential suicides: one was confirmed as a suicide, and 20 remain under investigation. For May, the Army reported 10 potential suicides among active duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, four have been confirmed as suicides, and six remain under investigation.

During June 2010, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were 11 potential suicides: one was confirmed as suicide, and 10 remain under investigation. For May, among that same group, there were 13 total suicides. Of those, two were confirmed as suicides and 11 are pending determination of the manner of death.

For reference, the Army’s total for the first half of calendar year 2009 was 88 for active duty and 42 for reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty. For the first half of 2010, the totals were 80 for active duty and 65 for reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty. ”

And do remember, this is active duty, National Guard, and Reservists. This does not count the veterans who are OUT of the service and killing themselves at all. So, consider the count MUCH higher than the statistics tell you.

A Medal of Honor hero died this week. He was a fighter in one of America’s segregated units during World War II. I often think America forgets that the “Greatest Generation” included men and women of all colors. Modern Americans too often like to gloss the racism of the past and pretend it not only doesn’t exist, but never “really” did affect American life.

But of course, it did. Although Vernon Baker was a WWII hero, it was not until Clinton was President that he was recognized fully with the medal. Nice gesture, but is late really better than never? Because I wonder what a difference it might have made in the lives of all African-Americans in post-war America to have a black man wearing the Medal of Honor walking the streets? Only seven black soldiers were granted this highest honor, and Mr. Baker was the only one alive to receive it.

America likes being a bit late at the gate, it seems. There is a lot of banter about how America is a sleeping giant, but, boy-oh-boy, once we wake up; look out! Right. If that was ever true, America is tossing back Ambiens at present.
The news mentions the passing of Mr. Vernon Baker and everyone says “Oh, what a brave man.”

The news still barely mentions heroes of the current wars, or the soldiers that die every day. I just wonder if it wouldn’t be better for our troops and veterans if someone thought a bit more about them before they are 75 years old, just for a change.

And since awards of the beautiful starry blue ribboned medal in the current wars have been so very stingy, one wonders if politics play a part? Do they hold back the awards to minimize the demands and costs of the war? After all, putting a hero up in clear view means this is some serious WAR, man! Do we still really want to play this one off as if we can do it with one hand tied behind our backs? Because we are losing men, bleeding money, and Humpty Dumpty is in pieces. All the CIA tricks and bigger bombs aren’t putting it back together again.

I just think Vernon Baker, and other Medal of Honor holders like him, would probably appreciate America noticing their brother and sister troops while they are still alive and struggling with the war and its effects.

And in line with the military and the nation being stuck on the “too little, too late” wagon, tomorrow will be “Suicide Saturday” a week earlier than usual.

I have been deleting myself from email lists for most of a year now. I am sick of being hectored and nagged by both sides. Somehow, the local Republicans got my phone number and keep calling to ask if I want to be a delegate to their convention, wtF is that about?

I am burned out. My health has suffered. My marriage has suffered. My writing has gone to sheer shit. And I am pissed off. Seriously, America? Have you forgotten what a representative democracy is all about? You elected Obama to replace the mad cowboy who took Reagan’s start into corporate thuggery, and Clinton’s book-keeperish nice guyness to the next fucked up level. The ship of state is on the rocks and you think the new “Captain” should fix it all yesterday.But you think he can do it alone?

The GOP is busy trying to blame everything from Afghanistan to the oil spill on him. Pssssttt—-he did not do it! One man, with his political party acting like a crew of pussies (and so not the bad cats in “Cats” either) can only do so much.

Barry Obama doesn’t have a magic wand to wave over all of America’s problems. Sorry, but to both progressives and republithugs, I must say, give up the myth of the “magic negro”, ok? He is President, NOT King. But America likes being stupid, the redneck jokes are coming home to roost, research suggests that facts don’t change fondly held dumb-assed ideas. Is this some sort of right wing New Age sewage effect? If you believe hard enough in something moronic and downright wrong, it will become true?

Here are some facts that even a housewife-grandma-veteran-bitch can grasp, try to keep up, alright? This is like the phone call your 7th grade teacher made to your folks, two weeks before semester end, to tell them you were failing.

* Illegal immigration is not what threatens the American worker. Having nothing worth working UPON is ruining American labor. We don’t MAKE anything anymore besides artery-clogging cheeseburgers and movies. Illegal immigrants largely do work that white Americans want nothing to do with at all.

* We have to dump the idea of the Mall being “entertainment.” Spending money on necessities instead of stupid assed fads USED to be the American way. Expecting to work for a living wage and actually knowing the job used to be the American way. Now every other person wants to be a “day trader” and “dot com millionaire.” You all watched the wrong fucking movies, ok? I honestly don’t know if we can get back to this, because the idiocracy seems well set.

* Obama didn’t start the wars. He surely needs to finish them. Good luck with that, Barry. He needs your help—-tell him supporting the troops means bringing them home alive, educating them with the new GI bill so they can go out and revitalize American industry as the vets of WWII did before them!

* Stop flogging the fear. The “terrorists” do not really want to “bring it to us here”—-they simply want American business and American military the fuck OUT of their countries and lives. Using the Marines and the Army as very underpaid mercenaries for American corporate interests abroad is going to crash the country.

(And just an aside? Fire the mini-white-shirted brownshirts of the TSA—hire some war veterans that know what a real asshat looks like so the petty jerks can quit feeling up grandmas and stealing baby sippy cups, ok?)

* This bullshit about cutting budgets, but NOT defense that Teabaggers are on about? Stupid. The defense budget would cover ALL the rest of the budget with leftovers for all. Basically, continuing to vote for morons espousing this line is paying for big rich bastards to use your sons and daughters as bullet stoppers for their own purposes. Wake the Fuck UP!

* Health care is socialism? Just what the fuck is so goddamned capitalist and democratic about dying for lack of medical care? That isn’t American, that is a twisty stupid form of social Darwinism—last espoused best by the Nazi Party of Germany. If you think Obama’s watered down health care plan is going to sink America’s little democracy into socialism, you are being ignorant zombies for the pharmaceutical and insurance industries and their rich bosses who want to keep raking in your bucks. Until you run out of cash and die that is—sucks to be you, then. Wake the Fuck UP!

But back to my opening—taking myself off lists and ignoring most petitions and letter writing campaigns. I think it is too late. I think too many Americans have their heads firmly up their own racist, sexist, save-me-Jesus asses and they like the sky being brown. I think they all drank the stupid Kool-aid and will keep buying the prettier myths of the GOP and their corporate masters. They don’t want to hear that DECADES of hard work and personal trial lie up the road. They didn’t want to hear it when Jimmy Carter first tried to tenderly inform them that they were going to hell in handbasket.

I’m glad I am old. But if all you young pups won’t learn from history, you are certainly going to suffer through repeating it until you learn or watch the American experiment fail. I almost wish I believed in the traditional afterlife.
I’d kind of like to watch the pissed off Founding Fathers kicking some ass there when some of the authors of the current shitstorm arrive in the “There” after fucking up the minds and lives of millions.

But since I don’t believe in that, I have to content myself with telling everyone buying the drivel and waiting for a fairy godfather/mother President to save them to kiss my ass.

The most amusing part was the look on some of the younger library patrons’ faces—-it was obvious that they never saw this 1984 film and had no idea what the joke was in the Improv performance!

(And thanks Branwyn, for bringing these guys to my attention!)

Please pardon me as I ramble, in the grip of emotions, exertions, exhaustion, and emptied eyes. Today, I watered the cycles of the Labyrinth to soften the hard stony earth there….and went to weed this “garden of war” as the crows called to each other in the firs above me. I am a clumsy poet—the first bit is mine, the second is the imperfect metaphor for deaths at war: my gardening vs that of some purportive Valkyrie.

War’s Garden: the Gardener & the Valkyrie

My knees are wet,
I kneel in the morning shade,
Water scenting the sunlit air.

My fingers are stained,
I touch the blood soaked sand,
Bitter cordite perfumes the day.

Ah, look, the violets are strong,
Spreading even amidst the stones,
Too pretty to pull.

Violets, those which Hellenes thought
Led to peace and calm rest?
None grow here, in bitter sand.

Creeping, blossoming yellow,
Cinquefoil for luck and safety,
I pull it not, and move it gently.

Safety is a thing of luck,
Like silver to ward off poison,
But to my arms, a young man falls!

Here I find seedlings, of the mighty fir,
And alder red and cherry sweet,
But I cannot leave them growing.

Ah, tall and mighty,
Here is the hero, sun in his hair,
Reaped like wheat, with my hunger!

But no, see how the clover runs wild?
It will take over, cover the stones,
None can remain, rip and rip!

Clover, that herb of escape?
That to make one free of arms,
Nobody here escapes MY arms.

But how now, do I rip and tear,
What once I planted in hope
Of peace, of solution without blood?

None where my eye falls
Can escape war’s progress.
Four leaves, white feathers!

Here at twisting garden’s heart,
Twining on stone,
Acrid scented bittersweet.

A choking in my throat,
Bittersweet, the look in young eyes,
I catch him as he falls.

It grew through a holed stone,
Delicate blossoms, blood-red fruits,
Protection? Mending brokenness?

Even armored hearts can break,
Looking on men’s blasted beauty!
And here, a woman, modern shield maid!

Oh, sweetness in the shade of firs,
Creeping flowers of blue,
Triumphing o’er pine needles.

Mixed amidst dusky faces,
Eyes of blue in sun-reddened faces,
Triumph o’er fear? O’er me?

I crush in my fingers the dandelion clocks,
Don’t blow in the breeze, no,
Tell me no tales of lives cut short.

Does he hear me coming?
This man, wise in the ways of death,
Did my message reach, can he dodge my sweep?

Sweet golden poppies, some red
Like old wars in Flanders Fields?
They are tentative in such hard soil.

Poppies, flowers of sleep,
Source of sorrow and survival here,
Burning, like invisible heros’ pyres.

Between the stones, love-in-a-mist,
I cannot let it grow here,
Regretting, still I pull it.

Oh, behold, this man,
How excellent and beloved?
Yet, he is mine, blood-in-a-mist.

Ajuga, creeping bugle weed,
Are you a call to arms,
Or the purple plea for peace?

Peace? That thing unmade by men?
I am stained and strained,
With lifting the remains of peace!

I was beginning to wake up this morning, mentally mapping out my day, when the phone rang. My youngest son’s voice came through the phone! A wake up call from Afghanistan—-yay!

He knows where he will be stationed now and will be off on his way there before the weekend. And no, if I don’t publish where the guys died, because the old analyst in me doesn’t give away unit positions so easily, I sure am not saying where my son will be. But I am relatively content with his posting and agog at the history of the area!

But history is a “harsh mistress” nonetheless. The Gurkha Rifles of Great Britain certainly have history: their toughness and courage are renowned. But for three other mothers, today is a day of weeping for sons treacherously killed by an Afghani comrade at arms, one apparently “turned” by the Taliban.

And American units are being slammed as well. It is another deadly week, with eight Americans killed in the last 24 hours.
It will surely get worse before (if ever) it gets better. Unless we have a Tamerlane reborn, victory is dubious.

So, my own relief and joy is humbled by the losses other mothers bear. Why is it sorrows are more lasting and joys more tenuous?

The dark of the moon is here again. It scarcely seems a month since I last typed those words. The wars take no break, casualties accrue—500,000 if you count injuries and illnesses (even those the military refuses to include like traumatic brain injury and PTSD!) and there is no peace in sight. What will it take to staunch the flow of blood and money in distant sands?

And as any of you who read routinely know, I am driven half mad by the impossibility of finding the names of veterans and service members who have died by their own hands following their war service. I only find names by chance in newspaper articles, but here are a few found recently:

Timothy Juneman
Tim Nelson
Orrin McClellan
All three of these men were from Washington state, all suffered from PTSD and were apparently failed by the VA. Juneman and Nelson died in 2008, McClellan died this year. My sympathies to their loved ones.

Adam Wehinger, of Oregon, died this year in an apparent suicide-by-cop in Oregon. He had been very distressed and drinking heavily for some time. Again, my sympathy to his family and loved ones; suicide is traumatic enough without it being a shooting in the streets.

And active duty deaths in the war zones:

US Army Sgt Jordan E. Tuttle, 22, of West Monroe, Louisiana, died in Iraq on July 2 in a non-hostile incident.

US Army PFC. David Jefferson, 23, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died July 2 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device exploded.

US Army PFC Jacob A. Dennis, 22, of Powder Springs, Ga., died July 3 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained June 30 in a weapons system accident in Afghanistan.

US Army Spc. Clayton D. McGarrah, 20, of Harrison, Ark., died July 4 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

US Army Special Forces Sgt. Andrew J. Creighton, 23, of Laurel, Del., died July 4 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained on July 1 while conducting combat operations .

US Army Spc. Louis R. Fastuca, 24, of West Chester, Pa., died July 5 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.

On July 5th, in Afghanistan, insurgents attacked an Army vehicle with an improvised explosive device killing two soldiers:

PFC. Edwin C. Wood, 18, of Omaha, Neb.
SSG. Christopher F. Cabacoy, 30, of Virginia Beach, Va.

On July 5, in Afghanistan, two US Army soldiers died of wounds from an IED:

Spc. Keenan A. Cooper, 19, of Wahpeton, N.D.
Spc. Jerod H. Osborne, 20, of Royse City, Texas.

On July 6, three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
died July 6 at Qalat, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device:

Staff Sgt. Marc A. Arizmendez, 30, of Anaheim, Calif.
Spc. Roger Lee, 26, of Monterey, Calif.
Pfc. Michael S. Pridham, 19, of Louisville, Ky.

US Army PFC. Anthony W. Simmons, 25, of Tallahassee, Fla., died July 8 in Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire.

US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel G. Raney, 21, of Pleasant View, Tenn., died July 9 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Spc. Robert W. Crow, 42, of Kansas City, Mo., died July 10 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

US Army Spc. Carlos J. Negron, 40, of Fort Meyers, Fla., died July 10 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with rifle and small arms fire.

US Army Sgt. Donald R. Edgerton, 33, of Murphy, N.C., died July 10 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.

US Army Staff Sgt. Jesse W. Ainsworth, 24, of Dayton, Texas, died July 10 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.

US Army Spc. Joseph W. Dimock II, 21, of Wildwood, Ill, died July 10 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident when an explosion occurred in an ammunition holding facility during an inventory.

US Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Roads, 20, of Burney, Calif., died July 10 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Sgt. Shaun M. Mittler, 32, of Austin, Texas, died July 10 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit using rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fires

US Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Antonik, 29, of Crystal Lake, Ill., died July 11 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Flags courtesy of ITA’s
Flags of All Countries used with permission.

British Trooper James A. Leverett, 20, of Sheffield, England was killed on July 5 in Afghanistan by an IED explosion.

British Pvt. Thomas Sephton, 20, of Warrington, England, died in Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 5 from wounds received in Afghanistan in an IED explosion.

British Bombardier Samuel J. Robinson, 31, of Camarthen, Wales, was killed in Afghanistan on July 8 by an IED explosion.

British Marine David C. Hart, 23, of North Yorkshire, England, was killed in Afghanistan on July 8 by an IED explosion.

Australian Pvt. Nathan Bewes, 23, of Kogarah, New South Wales, was killed in Afghanistan on July 9 by an IED explosion.

French Sgt. Laurent Mosic, 38(home town unreported) died in Afghanistan on July 6 of wounds from an IED explosion.