Pfc. Jaiciae L. Pauley, 29, of Austell, Ga., died of a gunshot wound in Iraq December 11, 2009. His death is under investigation.
It took six years and 10 months, but the United States finally made it through a month in Iraq without an American soldier dying in combat. December 2009 was the first time since the invasion in March 2003 that no U.S. troop succumbed to injuries sustained during fighting. However, four American service personnel did die last month in Iraq from non-hostile incidents, according to iCasualties.org.
The year 2009 recorded the lowest U.S. deaths overall in Iraq: 150. Fatalities reached their peak in 2007, when 904 Americans perished in the war. That same year, attacks on U.S. units rose as high as 200 a day, according to American commanders. Daily assaults fell to 15 by last year.
Although 4,688 coalition forces from 23 countries have died in Iraq, 93% of those who have died have been Americans.
-Noel Brinkerhoff