Soldier, Marine Die in Iraq; DoD Identifies Previous Casualties

American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2007 – A soldier and a Marine died in Iraq yesterday, and the Defense Department identified six soldiers who died previously.

Three coalition soldiers were injured, and one later died of wounds suffered when a large truck bomb exploded at a police station yesterday in Kirkuk. A Marine assigned to Multinational Force West died yesterday while conducting combat operations in Anbar province. Their names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department has released the names of six soldiers who died recently during U.S. operations abroad.

-- Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette, 24, of Amelia, Va., died April 1, and Spc. Wilfred Flores Jr., 20, of Lawton, Okla., died March 31 of wounds suffered March 31 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

-- Army Sgt. Joe Polo, 24, of Opalocka, Fla., died March 29 in Baghdad of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire. Polo was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

-- Sgt. Edmund W. McDonald, 25, of Casco, Maine, and Spc. Agustin Gutierrez, 19, of San Jacinto, Calif., died March 29 in North Kabul, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered during a non-combat related vehicle accident March 28 in North Kabul. They were assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

-- Spc. Christopher M. Wilson, 24, of Bangor, Maine, died March 29 at Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from a rocket-propelled-grenade explosion. Wilson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.