Guard, Reserve Monthly Death Toll at High

[RedEarth]

WASHINGTON May was the deadliest month of the Iraq war for part-time American servicemen.

Thirty-one of them died: 14 members of the Army National Guard, 12 from the Marine Corps Reserve, four from the Army Reserve and one Navy Reserve hospital corpsman attached to a Marine combat unit.

The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq last month _ counting active-duty as well as mobilized reserve forces _ was 80. That is the highest for any month since January, when 107 died as insurgent attacks rose sharply prior to the Iraqi election. Fifty-two died in April and 36 in March, when it appeared the insurgency was waning.

Iraqis bore the brunt of insurgent violence in May, but it also took a heavy toll on the approximately 140,000 U.S. troops there. The 80 deaths compares with a monthly average of 70 over the previous 12 months.

The death toll among the Guard and Reserve underscores an important aspect of their recruiting problems: More potential recruits, citing concern about being sent to the war zone, are opting for other careers. The Army Guard missed its recruiting target last year and has fallen even farther behind this year.

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[Erika]

1. Yeah, we've lost three in Idaho this month

Including the 19 year old girl.

[fasttense]

2. Yeah right, these are just the numbers of deaths they can't hide.

What about the deaths they can hide? Do you think the brush regime is reporting the true cost?

[leesa]

3. Bush is destroying the National Guard...we have no civil defense.