Fifty-four Dead Women

by Laurence M. Vance
by Laurence M. Vance

Dead women. Fifty-four dead women. Has it really come to this? We know that American women die everyday. They die in hospitals, nursing homes, bedrooms, and cars. They die by accident, disease, murder, suicide, or natural causes. But why should any American women die in Iraq fighting a war?

Yes, women. It is horrible enough when young men in the prime of their life have their arms and legs torn to shreds because of an encounter with an "improvised explosive device," but it is absolutely hideous that we as a country countenance young women – young American women, some of them with children – dying the same grisly type of death. True, they enlisted in the military of their own free will. But where are the fathers, the brothers, and the pastors of these misguided and impressionable girls? What kind of slime do we have for military recruiters that would prey on these women?

As I have argued many, many times before, no American soldiers – men or women – should be fighting in Iraq in the first place. Some Americans are aware that 2,475 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq; few Americans probably realize that 54 of them were women.

The following table lists all of the women who have been killed to date in the Iraq war. The date given is the date of death, beginning with the most recent. Clicking the link on the name will bring up the official DOD news release about the woman’s death. Then follows a photo of the dead woman, her rank, her branch of service, and the cause of her death.

Date	Name	Photo	Age	Rank	Branch	Cause of Death
04/08/06	NavarroArellano, Juana		24	Lance Corporal	Marines	Hostile: small arms fire
03/16/06	Pinson, Amanda N.		21	Sergeant	Army	Hostile: mortar attack
03/11/06	Duerksen, Amy A.		19	Private 1st Class	Army	Non-hostile: weapon discharge
03/01/06	Priest, Tina M.		20	Private 1st Class	Army	Non-hostile: unspecified
01/07/06	Campbell, Jaime L.		25	1st Lieutenant	National Guard	Non-hostile: helicopter crash
12/24/05	Maravillosa, Myla L.		24	Sergeant	Army Reserve	Hostile: RPG attack
12/23/05	Reali, Regina C.		25	Sergeant	Army Reserve	Hostile: IED attack
12/10/05	Atkins, Julia V.		22	Sergeant	Army	Hostile: IED attack
10/28/05	Banaszak, Debra A.		35	1st Lieutenant	National Guard	Non-hostile: unspecified
09/28/05	Jacobson, Elizabeth Nicole		21	Airman 1st Class	Air Force	Hostile: IED attack
08/14/05	Green, Toccara R.		23	Specialist	Army	Hostile: IED attack
07/19/05	Johnson, Lavena L.		19	Private	Army	Non-hostile: weapon discharge
07/14/05	Jameson, Tricia L.		34	Staff Sergeant	National Guard	Hostile: IED attack
06/23/05	Valdez, Ramona M.		20	Corporal	Marines	Hostile: suicide car bomb
06/23/05	Charette, Holly A.		21	Lance Corporal	Marines	Hostile: suicide car bomb
06/23/05	Clark, Regina R.		43	Petty Officer 1st Class	Naval	Hostile: suicide car bomb
06/05/05	French, Carrie L.		19	Specialist	National Guard	Hostile: IED attack
06/03/05	Villar, Linda J.		41	Civilian	Dept. of the army	Hostile: mortar attack
04/18/05	Huff, Sam W.		18	Private 1st Class	Army Reserve	Hostile: IED attack
04/15/05	Ramirezgonzalez, Aleina		33	Specialist	Army	Hostile: mortar attack
03/04/05	Salem, Adriana N.		21	Specialist	Army	Non-hostile: vehicle accident
03/01/05	Robles, Lizbeth		31	Specialist	Army	Non-hostile: vehicle accident
02/16/05	Bell-Johnson, Katrina Lani		32	Specialist	Army	Non-hostile: vehicle accident
02/09/05	Housby, Jessica M.		23	Sergeant	National Guard	Hostile: IED attack
01/29/05	Heald, Barbara		60	Civilian	Dept. of the Army	Hostile: rocket attack
12/13/04	Time, Tina Safaira		22	Sergeant	Army Reserve	Non-hostile: vehicle accident
12/04/04	Gasiewicz, Cari Anne		28	Sergeant	Army	Hostile: IED attack
10/11/04	Osbourne, Pamela G.		38	Sergeant	Army	Hostile: rocket attack
10/06/04	Cawvey, Jessica L.		21	Specialist	National Guard	Hostile: IED attack
09/05/04	Morrison, Shawna M.		26	Sergeant	National Guard	Hostile: mortar attack
07/22/04	Reed, Tatjana		34	Sergeant	Army	Hostile: IED attack
07/11/04	Tarango-Griess, Linda Ann		33	Sergeant 1st Class	National Guard	Hostile: IED attack
06/06/04	Hobart, Melissa J.		22	Private 1st Class	Army	Non-hostile: illness
05/20/04	Jackson, Leslie D.		18	Private 1st Class	Army	Hostile: IED attack
05/08/04	Rubalcava, Isela		25	Specialist	Army	Hostile: mortar attack
04/09/04	Witmer, Michelle M.		20	Specialist	National Guard	Hostile: IED attack
04/07/04	Felder, Tyanna S.		22	Specialist	Army	Hostile: IED attack
03/09/04	Holland, Fern L.		33	Civilian	Dept. of the Army	Hostile: unspecified
03/07/04	Jones, Gussie M.		41	Captain	Army	Non-hostile: illness
02/16/04	Frye, Nichole M.		19	Private 1st Class	Army Reserve	Hostile: IED attack
01/31/04	McGeogh, Holly J.		19	Private 1st Class	Army	Hostile: IED attack
01/31/04	Hines, Keicia M.		27	Sergeant	Army	Non-hostile: vehicle accident
01/02/04	Hampton, Kimberly N.		27	Captain	Army	Hostile: helicopter crash
12/14/03	Voelz, Kimberly A.		27	Staff Sergeant	Army	Hostile: IED attack
11/08/03	Jimenez, Linda C.		39	Sergeant	Army	Non-hostile: accident
11/07/03	Swartworth, Sharon T.		43	Chief War- rant Officer	Army	Hostile: helicopter crash
11/02/03	Vega, Frances M.		20	Specialist	Army	Hostile: helicopter crash
11/02/03	Lau, Karina S.		20	Private 1st Class	Army	Hostile: helicopter crash
10/26/03	Bosveld, Rachel K.		19	Private 1st Class	Army	Hostile: mortar attack
10/01/03	Ramos, Tamarra J.		24	Specialist	Army	Non-hostile: unspecified
10/01/03	Gutierrez, Analaura Esparza		21	Private 1st Class	Army	Hostile: grenade
09/15/03	Peterson, Alyssa R.		27	Specialist	Army	Non-hostile: weapon discharge
07/09/03	Valles, Melissa		26	Sergeant	Army	Non-hostile: weapon discharge
03/23/03	Piestewa, Lori Ann		23	Private 1st Class	Army	Hostile: ambush

Along with a pacifist dog and an anti-war weenie, I have been called a coward for not supporting the war in Iraq. But even if the war is necessary, what kind of coward would countenance sending women to their deaths in Iraq when it is not necessary that any women go? If this war is really necessary then why don’t members of Congress go and fight or at least encourage their sons to enlist instead of sending women? How many members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees are even aware of the number of female U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq? What kind of military do we have that sends women to die overseas? What kind of society do we have that would accept a woman with children flying a military helicopter in Iraq or anywhere else? Where were all the Bush apologists, Republican loyalists, Christian warmongers, and other supporters of this war when women were dying in Iraq? I suppose they were seated next to the armchair warriors.

Dead women. Fifty-four dead women. It is a terrible tragedy that we send young men to die in this senseless war in Iraq; it is a horrendous evil that we send young women.

June 8, 2006

Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] is a freelance writer and an adjunct instructor in accounting and economics at Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola, FL. He is also the director of the Francis Wayland Institute. His new book is Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State. Visit his website.

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