Tonight, we honor a National Guard Soldier from Pennsylvania, who died from a gun shot wound while answering a call for help from a vehicle in a roadside bomb explosion in Mushada, Iraq.
Since 2003, there have been 4251 American troops killed in Iraq and 660 American troops killed in Afghanistan. 192 Pennsylvanians have died in the Iraq war. According to the Iraq Casualties Count, there are over 100,000 estimated injured troops from the Iraq war. Please take a moment to honor and remember their sacrifice.
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Mark C. Baum, 32, of Telford, Pa., died Feb. 21 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered earlier that day when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire in Mushada, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
Baum is survived by a beautiful wife and three small children. This was his second tour of duty in Iraq. He previously served in Kosova and Sinai.
Before he left for his second tour in Iraq, Mark and his wife, Heather, renewed their wedding vows to each other on December 28, 2008. They were married for ten years and have three children: Alexis (6), Kailey (3), and Conrad (7 months old). Their family picture can be seen here.. He is also survived by his parents, Howard and Debra Baum. His father told the Patriot News:
"He was always great with people," Baum said. "He enjoyed what he was doing. ... He loved it with the military, the people he worked with. He was always talking about it. I was in the service myself, so I understand."
My heart goes out to the Baum family, his Stryker Brigade, friends, and Bucks County community.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here and here. They all had loved ones, families and friends. The DoD news releases are here. I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect and remind. Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries.
Click the IGTNT tags to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, noweasels, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Media Prof, and me, Sandy on Signal. .
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.