US deaths in Iraq war hit 3,000

An American soldier killed on the streets of Baghdad on Saturday became the 3,000th US service member to die in Iraq, nearly four years after the invasion of the country .

Just hour s after Saddam Hussein's burial yesterday, the US military announced two deaths, including that of the unidentified soldier killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his patrol in Baghdad. The death pushed the number of military personnel killed in the conflict to the grim threshold, according to the Associated Press.

The other soldier was identified as Specialist Dustin R. Donica, of Spring, Texas, who was killed by small-arms fire Thursday in Baghdad while on assignment with the Army's 25th Infantry Division. The deaths occurred at the end of the bloodiest month for the US military in Iraq in 2006, with at least 111 killed in December.

The White House said President Bush would not comment directly on the 3,000th death. A Pentagon spokesman said there was "no special significance to the overall number of casualties."

Bush, who is in the midst of reassessing war strategy for Iraq, did address the conflict yesterday in his New Year's message to the nation: "In the New Year, we will remain on the offensive against the enemies of freedom, advance the security of our country, and work toward a free and unified Iraq."

As the death toll has mounted, debate over the war has intensified, with deep divisions in Washington and across the nation on how to proceed. Public disapproval of the war is high, and polls show that most people expect US deaths in Iraq to continue into the new year.

In thousands of towns and communities in New England and across the nation, the lives lost in Iraq have exacted a more private toll -- a mourning that begins in funerals and memorials, then bleeds into everyday lives.

"Every single day is a struggle, a struggle to get up, to take a shower, to go to work, to do anything," said Melissa Garvin , 20, of Malden, whose husband, Marine Lance Corporal Edward M. Garvin , 19, was killed on Oct. 4 in Anbar Province after four weeks in Iraq . "The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that I need to finish what Eddy started."

Garvin is deadly serious about that pledge: She enlisted in the Army several weeks ago to continue, she said, fighting her husband's war. Garvin is in training as a medical technician and is scheduled to deploy to Iraq next summer.

It took 18 months for the first thousand US military personnel to die in Iraq. The second thousand came after another 14 months, a sign the violence was escalating. This latest milestone took 15 months.

War protesters yesterday gathered amid New Year's revelers.

"Too many people have died. We want no war in 2007," said Marie Berrabah , who was protesting in Copley Square. "We want the people to come back from war."

By historical standards, the death toll in Iraq is small. Between 1964 and 1973, about 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam . About 36,000 Americans died in three years of fighting in Korea. The United States lost about half-a-million men and women in the two world wars.

But Iraq's death toll far exceeds anything this generation has experienced, and with no clear end in sight, the daily drumbeat of news of Americans killed has saddened and wearied the nation.

"In hindsight, it would appear that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary," said Richard August , 65, of North Kingston, R.I., whose 28-year-old son Matthew was killed two years ago.

Like many, August's views on the war have shifted, and he fears that the new year will bring only more death.

"It stands to reason that if we increase the troop strength, we're putting more people in harm's way," he said.

But August does not believe his son died in vain. For him, Matthew August is a hero.

"He died in honorable service of the country. He answered the call and stepped up when most of the population stayed home, nice and comfortable," he said.

The war dead have come from all over the country, and New England has hardly been spared. Forty-five people from Massachusetts have been killed, 23 from Connecticut, 18 from Vermont, 14 from Maine, and 11 Rhode Islanders.

Just last Friday, mourners gathered in Wolfeboro, N.H., to remember Army Specialist Matthew Stanley, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Dec. 16, just 10 days before his 23 d birthday.

"He was always there for me," said Stanley's older sister Melissa, telling those gathered: "I ask you to keep Matt's light hearted spirit forever,"

The toll has also been international: 127 Britons have been killed, along with 33 Italians, 18 Ukrainians, 18 Poles, and military personnel from 13 other nations.

And Iraqi deaths dwarf all others in number. The iraqbodycount.org group, whose counts are cited by the AP, estimates that between 52,000 and 57,000 Iraqi civilians have died in the fighting.

Even among US forces, deaths are only part of the story. More than 10,100 have been so severely wounded that they could not return to action, with many losing limbs, suffering severe head injuries, or sustaining extensive burns from roadside bombs, according to US military figures.

Joshua Hamre , 34, of Enfield, Conn., watches reports on Iraq intently. His stepbrother, Marine Captain John Maloney of Chicopee, was killed by a roadside bomb last year. Though he has opposed the war from the outset, he said he would not make a "charged political statement" linking Maloney's death to Bush's policies.

"Decisions that are made by management affect the employees," he said. "John's employer made decisions. He was given an assignment and he did it to the best of his abilities."

Anne Chay , 54, of Andover worries that her son, Jonathan Stras , 19, could be next. Over Christmas, he was the machine gunner on a five-day mission to pacify a Baghdad neighborhood. He has been in Iraq since July.

Unlike many other military families, she has not kept her opinions quiet. Chay feels that 3,000 deaths are far too many.

"It's not working. The war is not working," she said. "It makes me sick to my stomach, 3,000 deaths. It could be my son next."

Chay has joined a war protest group called Military Families Speak Out. But she has not discussed her opinions with her son much. Chay instead tries to console him.

"He was depressed about being away for Christmas," she said. "This has been horrible."

Melissa Garvin is uninterested in the back-and-forth of the war debate. "If it wasn't for people like Eddy, we wouldn't have everything we have today," she said. The couple, friends since second grade, had married six months earlier.

"Everybody says it gets easier but it gets harder," she said. But she had little to say about the milestone of 3,000 deaths.

"I don't want to say anything about that because I don't want Eddy remembered as a statistic," she said. "I want him remembered as a person."

She offered a poem instead:

"Forever and always your memory will live/ I will make sure to never forget this/ Forever and always I will be your wife/ Remember this please, cause when its my turn/ I will meet you at the light/ Forever and always I will love you."

Kathy McCabe of the Globe staff contributed to this story. Material from the Associated Press was also used. Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.