IGTNT: Promises To Keep

I Got the News Today (2/9/2007 Edition). Yesterday, the Department of Defense announced the names of five soldiers killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  According to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count the number of names released by the DoD is now 3102 and there are thirteen more names of the deceased awaiting notification of the next of kin before being publicly released.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,

Promises to Keep (i dunno)

And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Before I Sleep (OPOL)

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening  (Robert Frost)
More after the flip.

Frazier's mother, Shelia Cutshall, told The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg that she last spoke with her son by phone on Sunday night, when he called with news of his promotion from corporal to sergeant. "He was upbeat," she said. "I told him I missed him, and he said he missed me too."

Sniper kills Spotsylvania Marine in Iraq

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Joshua J. Frazier, 24, of Spotsylvania, Va., died Feb. 6 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.  Frazier was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

DoD News Release

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Jennifer M. Parcell, 20, of Bel Air, Md., died Feb. 7 while supporting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.  Parcell was assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 3, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.

DoD News Release

Marine Cpl. Jennifer M. Parcell, shown reading a Medal of Honor citation on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, died Wednesday in Anbar province in what the Defense Department described as "supporting combat operations."

Troops Shared Firm Belief in Iraq Service

All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here.  They all had loved ones, families and friends. The DoD news releases are here.

I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Click here for the previous diary in this series.

•  Tips

  for bringing the news no one wants to hear?

  by i dunno on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 03:15:58 AM PDT

•  3115

  more than "just a number".  It is a tragedy.  Iraqis and our troops deserve diplomacy and peace now.

  Bring them home now.  Joshua and Jennifer, rest in peace.  I am so sorry about each and every loss.  

  by Sandy on Signal on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 03:28:48 AM PDT

  •  It is not a tragedy, it's an abomination

    9/11 was a tragedy. This is deliberate sacrificing of our most selfless - screw the best and the brightest, they may or may not be that, but unquestionably the most selfless - on the altar of war profiteering.

    Their blood screams for justice. Their deaths must be avenged by exposing and condemning those who caused it. Shrub talks about honoring their sacrifice, but the only way to do truly give their deaths any meaning is to learn from our mistakes that caused it.

    Those mistakes are allowing our fear to be stoked by sleazy snake oil peddlers, allowing ourselves to be controlled by our fear, and allowing our leaders to do what they please in our names unquestioned.

    by mgoltsman on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 08:03:33 AM PDT

•  3118

  Latest update has the number killed up to 3118.  

  by DWG on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 03:58:12 AM PDT

  •  Sigh.

    Can't keep up...

    by i dunno on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 04:22:59 AM PDT

    •  Even worse

      Over 600 wounded lasted month.  And all this before the official start of the surge?

      by DWG on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 05:20:45 AM PDT

•  My heart is breaking, all over again. n/t

  by dolphin777 on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 04:52:10 AM PDT

•  In memory of

  Marine Cpl. Jennifer M. Parcell
  Sgt. Joshua J. Frazier

  Please think about what they might have been, and the families, friends, and communities that are affected by their loss.

  by monkeybiz on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 04:56:24 AM PDT

•  For their families and friends

  I witness to their service and their passing.

  What we should be hearing about Cpl. Jennifer M. Parcell's life and death, but won't...

  "I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned."
  from Dirge Without Music
  by Edna St. Vincent Millay

  by Morrigan on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 09:08:08 AM PDT

  •  From Editor & Publisher, via Attytood

    Young Woman Meets Tragic End -- No, It's Not Anna Nicole

    By Greg Mitchell

    ...

    Even in Iraq, [Jennifer Parcell] was managing to take a course at the University of Maryland, the Baltimore Sun relates, adding: "Helping others was routine for the Marine corporal. She sponsored an African child through a mission charity. And when Pakistan was devastated by an earthquake last year, she and others in her unit were dispatched to the scene. She earned the Humanitarian Service Medal for her efforts."

    by monkeybiz on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 05:23:16 PM PDT