Local Soldier Killed in Iraq

by DJ Sunday, Jul. 31, 2005 at 4:24 PM

Long Beach resident killed in Iraq. Pvt. Ernesto R. Guerra dies in accident; U.S. tally now 1,789 dead.

L.B. resident killed in Iraq

Pvt. Ernesto R. Guerra dies in accident; U.S. tally now 1,789 dead.

By Associated Press

The Department of Defense announced the death of Long Beach resident Pvt. Ernesto R. Guerra, who died Friday from injuries he suffered in an accident the day before in Baghdad, Iraq.

The 20-year-old Army private was injured when his vehicle was involved in an accident, Army officials said in a press statement.

Guerra had been assigned to the 43rd Brigade Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

The Army released no other details about Guerra.

Guerra was the 1,789th member of the U.S. military to have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,382 died as a result of hostile action. The figures include five military civilians.

The AP count is three lower than the Defense Department's tally, last updated at 7 a.m. PDT Friday.

The British military has reported 92 deaths; Italy, 25; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Estonia, Thailand and the Netherlands, two each; and Denmark, El Salvador, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Latvia one death each.

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 1,650 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,273 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

On the Net

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Original: Local Soldier Killed in Iraq