Stryker Brigade fatalities: the consequences of militarization of our ports

topic : Iraq occupation | Port Militarization Resistance | Port of Olympia

The preceding chart lists known deaths of the 3rd and 4th Stryker Brigades during their most recent deployments, to the extent documented by the US Dept. of Defense. The 3rd Stryker Brigade is currently serving its second tour in Iraq. Its Stryker vehicles and related equipment were shipped from the Port of Olympia in late May 2006, a month before the actual soldiers were sent to the Middle East. The original mission of the 3rd Brigade was to secure "enduring" (a.k.a. permanent) military bases in Mosul. However, upon arrival, almost half of the brigade was routed to Baghdad. The Mosul contingent eventually rejoined the Baghdad contingent in Dec. 2006. The 3rd Brigade was also supposed to replace the 172nd Stryker Brigade. However, the 172nd Brigade's tour was extended by four months.

The 4th Stryker Brigade entered Iraq in the beginning of May 2007. Its Stryker vehicles were shipped out of the Port of Tacoma in March 2007. The 4th Stryker Brigade was originally supposed to replace the 3rd Stryker Brigade. However, the 3rd Brigade's tour was extended for three months. The 4th Brigade was also deployed two months earlier than originally planned, as part of the troop "surge." In order to meet this schedule, the 4th Brigade had to forgo final desert training at the National Training Center in California.

The 4th Brigade entered Iraq during the deadliest month for US troops since Nov. 2004. In its first month, the 4th Brigade lost as many soldiers as the 3rd Brigade lost in its first four months. As with the 3rd Brigade, the 4th Brigade's tour has been extended from one year to 15 months.

This chart does not list non-fatal casualties sustained by the two brigades, which would be considerably higher. Comparable information on the greater number of Iraqi casualties do not exist because, as we're told, the US doesn't do body counts -- and they're all named "Hajji," anyway.

Unlike the Iraqi dead, considerable information about the lives and aspirations of these soldiers can be found on the internet. For instance, Anthony Bradshaw's MySpace page carried the boastful slogan, "Given Life to Take Life!" Casey Mellen's MySpace page indicated his hatred for George Bush, the US Army, and Iraq, which he described as "the biggest shit hole in the whole entire world." Mellen's page included a countdown clock that indicated how much time he had before he could leave the Army.

One particularly poignant comment comes from Staff Sgt. Darrell Griffin, a self-styled philosopher who wrote the following passage, not long before he was killed by a sniper:

"My heart finally broke for the Iraqi people. I wanted to just sit down and cry while saying I'm so, so sorry for what we had done. I had the acute sense that we had failed these people. It was at this time, and after an entire year of being deployed and well into the next deployment that I realized something. We burst into homes, frighten the hell out of families, and destroy their homes looking for an elusive enemy. We do this out of fear of the unseen and attempt to compensate for our inability to capture insurgents by swatting mosquitoes with a sledge-hammer in glass houses."