UTAH

  • Number of Active Duty Service-Members in Iraq: 749
  • Number of Reserve Forces in Iraq: 586
  • Number of Service-Members Killed in Iraq: 18
  • Number of Service-Members Wounded in Iraq: 199
  • Cost of War to the People of Utah: $2.0 billion

(Source: CTS Deployment File, 1/31/07; Department of Defense Personnel Statistics; nationalpriorities.org)

Stories from Home…

Utah-based reservists going to Iraq again, but “this time around [they] had more gunshot wounds to deal with.” “At the time, they felt like victors. They watched as statues and paintings of Saddam Hussein fell. They cruised in unarmored vehicles through cities of seemingly supportive Iraqis. And they returned home as their president declared an end to major combat operations. It’s been four years since the men of Charlie Company, of the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, left Iraq. Now the Utah-based unit of reservists is returning to a still war-torn nation embroiled in sectarian fighting – a nation where victory remains evasive… This time around, [navy corpsman Chris] Schumacher said, ‘there were the same health and hygiene issues, but we had more gunshot wounds to deal with.'” (Salt Lake (UT) Tribune, 4/26/07)

Utaha soldier asked to serve a fourth tour in Iraq. “On Tuesday, it will have been four years since the United States invaded Iraq, and Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Kirsch has been deployed there three times. The government now hopes he’ll sign on for what could turn into an almost-unheard-of fourth tour in Iraq… Kirsch, 23, who is single and a student at Utah Valley State College, is taking classes in art and writing. But he recently received a letter from Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, encouraging him to re-enlist… Even if he doesn’t re-enlist, he could end up going anyway–involuntarily… During his first two deployments to Baghdad for the 2003 invasion and then Fallujah near the end of 2004, Kirsch shot his weapon at Iraqis who were trying to kill him. To this day, he is still sensitive to loud noises and has trouble being in crowds, instinctively checking who is around him as he walks the halls of UVSC. ‘I don’t want to go to Iraq again,’ he said in an interview. ‘I didn’t like it there–no one likes it over there. I still did my duty, but you’d be lying if you said you liked it over there. It’s not a vacation.'” (Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City, UT), 3/19/07)

Utaha soldier is likely to be forced back to Iraq even after his Army contract ends. “With two combat tours behind him, Justin Sasso figures he’s done his part. He’s never complained when asked to go to war… But with Sasso’s obligation to the Army set to expire in September 2008, the weary soldier was looking forward to the end of his military career. Recently, however, Sasso learned his unit is scheduled to return to Iraq two months after his contract ends. And that makes it likely that the Sandy native–whose wife is pregnant with the couple’s first child–will be involuntarily extended for the duration of a third combat tour.” (Salt Lake (UT) Tribune, 3/12/07)