Fallujah Offensive Takes Toll on Texas GIs (TXans =9% of Total War Deaths)

[Khephra]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Gary Qualls worried a lot after his son went off to war, so he went hunting last week to get his mind off it. When he got home, a letter from Louis was waiting. The young Marine wrote about the Fallujah offensive: "I fear it's a fight for my life. Dad, I need your prayers and advice more than ever." About an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

Louis Qualls, of Temple, was killed on Nov. 16 -- the latest of 12 soldiers and Marines from Texas killed in combat this month, 10 in the province that includes Fallujah. It was an unusually high toll for one state, even in this deadly month of warfare.

At least 108 U.S. soldiers and Marines have died in combat in Iraq this month, 99 of them since Nov. 8, the day American-led forces began a successful offensive to subdue the insurgent stronghold. It has been the second-deadliest month for American troops since the Iraq invasion, surpassed only by last April's 135 deaths.

Texas has borne many casualties. Of the 1,230 military members who have died since the beginning of the war, at least 110 were from Texas, or nearly 9 percent. The state has about 7.5 percent of the U.S. population.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-texas-fallujah,0,3324485.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[PDittie]

1. Texas is blood red n/t

[Algorem]

2. those rogue states are dangerous

[AussieDave]

3. Texas was once a good place

I remember it fondly growing up - now it's gone to Hell in a handbasket, everyone seems to have been brainwashed. I will certainly never go back there, even to visit relatives.

People who support this war actually think they are doing good, that it will all be worth the death and blood and misery in the end. How disheartening it must be to the soldiers who see this war for what it is - there is no hope for any of them now (after the election). It's become a crap-shoot as to who lives and who dies - no wonder some, if not many, have written their last goodbyes home.

I see their faces and learn their ages and it makes me want to cry at the waste and futility - all war is wasteful but this one in particular is so unnecessary, but all the evangelicals and Righteous Churchgoing Folk refuse to see it. The times we live in are dark indeed, and the worst is yet to come........

[sandnsea]

4. California - 147

Guess that doesn't fit with their red state patriot thing.

[Bigmack]

5. Texas based...

... not necessarily raised in Texas. Same with California. Lots of Marines from California have been killed, but when you look further, you find they were based at Camp Pendleton in California, not necessarily FROM California.

States with a large number of Infantry-type bases will show a larger percentage of casualties.

Having said that, I'd like to see a breakdown of home states of casualties.... that is, where did they enlist from. My guess is that they'd be from the South and red states more than blue states. Education level and culture in the red states sends more kids to the military.