One American Died Every 15 Hours, on Average, in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Members of the U.S. Air Force honor guard prepare to fire a 21-gun salute at a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery on March 11, 2009. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

(CNSNews.com) – One U.S. soldier, Marine, airman or sailor died every 15 hours, on average, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which officially ends on Tuesday -- almost seven-and-a-half years after U.S.-led forces invaded to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime.


The Defense Department puts the U.S. death toll for the conflict, which began on March 20, 2003, at 4,421 fatalities, 3,492 of them in combat (including nine civilian DOD employees).

Of the 89 months of the mission, the deadliest was not during the escalation that prompted the troop “surge” of 2007 but in November 2004, when 139 troops were killed in combat, according to a CNSNews.com database of U.S. fatalities in Iraq.

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