Georgia Marine Killed in Afghanistan

The U.S. Department of Defense says a 20-year-old Marine from Adairsville, Ga., has been killed in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said Monday that Lance Cpl. Seth Sharp was killed Thursday during Operation Strike of the Sword. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

His father, Rick Sharp, told the Rome News-Tribune that his son played freshman football for Adairsville High School. He said his son enlisted at the age of 17 and had previously served a tour of duty in Iraq.Rick Sharp says his son asked for coloring books and crayons while serving in Iraq so he could distribute them to children.Funeral arrangements are pending.

(Associated Press)

Famed Peachtree Road Race Has Military Versions

The world’s largest 10-K running event is Saturday morning in Atlanta. But the reach of Georgia’s famous Peachtree Road Race also extends to overseas war zones.

In Atlanta, it’s now 40 years that Independence Day morning again will bring a stampede of 55,000 runners sweating down Atlanta’s famed Peachtree St. And it’s been the past few years that troops who’ve run the race and now serving overseas have carried the Peachtree spirit with them.

More than 3,000 military members are competing in specially-organized Peachtree races in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Groups involved include the 108th Calvary Division of the Georgia National Guard out of Macon.

Retired Colonel Tom McKenzie has run the race in Atlanta and overseas. He says the camaraderie for the so-called 'military-Peachtree’ is unmatched:

"There are some folks that have run the race in Iraq, and now they’re running in Afghanistan. It’s a testament to the folks who have continuous deployments, and the families who have to sacrifice. Those folks have the tough job."

McKenzie is the official ‘starter’ for the military Peachtree races. He will give the ‘go’ via phone at the Atlanta starting line for the bulk of the races Friday night (July 4th morning for military races).

Court Rules Soldier's Wife Can't Sue

A federal appeals court says the wife of a U.S. soldier incapacitated by brain injury in a wreck during a fuel convoy in Iraq cannot sue the civilian contractor delivering the fuel. Sgt. Keith Carmichael, of Atlanta, was a gunner assigned to ride in a tanker truck operated by Kellogg, Brown & Root during the 2004 convoy. He was thrown and pinned beneath the truck when the civilian driver failed to negotiate a curve. Annette Carmichael sued KBR and its former parent company, Halliburton, claiming the civilian contractor, not the military, was responsible for the accident. In Tuesday's 2-1 ruling, a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it found "no judicially manageable standards" to settle the suit and upheld its dismissal by a lower court.

(Associated Press)

Group Of Fort Benning Soldiers Return Today

The Army says about 90 soldiers from the 63rd Engineer Company are scheduled to return early today to Fort Benning from a 15-month deployment to Iraq. The 63rd is returning from its third round of duty in the middle East. The unit last deployed from November 2005 to November 2006. The 63rd is part of the 11th Engineer Battalion. It provides support to soldiers in defensive positions and constructs roads and airfields.

Soldiers To Return to Ft. Benning

The Army says about 90 soldiers from the 63rd Engineer Company are scheduled to return to Fort Benning from a 15-month deployment to Iraq early Monday. It was the company's third deployment to Iraq. The unit last deployed from November 2005 to November 2006. The 63rd is part of the 11th Engineer Battalion. It provides support to soldiers in defensive positions and constructs roads and airfields.

(Associated Press)

Decorated Soldier Dies

A decorated U.S. Army soldier from south Georgia has died in Iraq. The Department of Defense said Command Sgt. Major Benjamin Moore Jr. of Waycross died Friday of injuries that were not combat-related. He was 43. Moore earned 55 medals and had served in the Army since June 1983.

(Associated Press)

48th Brigade Honored With Parades

All across Middle Georgia people are gathering to send off soldiers heading to Afghanistan. The Georgia National Guards 48th brigade id being deployed to Afghanistan. They are expected to be gone for a year. While there they will help train Afghan Security Forces. Many of them will leave for training by the end of the week.
This week people in Dublin, Macon, and Forsyth are holding parades to give the soldiers a proper send off. The 48th is headquartered in Macon and organizers of the parade there are hoping people will line the streets and hang yellow ribbons.
This is the second time the 48th has been deployed since 2005. They returned home in 2006 having lost 26 members of the brigade in Iraq. The various battalions will deploy between now and the end of the summer.

Trial resumes for Ft. Stewart soldier

Testimony is scheduled to resume for asecond day in the military hearing for a Fort Stewart sergeant charged with murdering two U.S. soldiers in his unit last year at a patrol base in Iraq. Army Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich is accused of fatally shooting a superior and a fellow team leader in his unit Sept. 14 as they gave him disciplinary counseling for poor performance. Soldiers testified Monday that he gunned down Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson of Pensacola, Fla., and Sgt. Wesley Durbin of Dallas when they told the 39-year-old Bozicevich he was being pulled off patrol duty for leaving a soldier behind during a foot patrol. The Article 32 hearing that began Monday will determine ifBozicevich's case goes to a court-martial.

(Associated Press)

'Brothers at War' Filmmaker, Producer at Columbus Opening

In this 2008 photo provided by Samuel Goldwyn Films, brothers, from left, Isaac, Jake and Joe Rademacher pose in Decatur, Ill. Jake followed his two younger brothers to Iraq, filming them and their comrades for a film "Brothers at War," that will open in military towns in North Carolina and Georgia. (AP Photo/Samuel Goldwyn Films, Amy Denney) - AP

Jake Rademacher finally got to go to war.

It wasn't the way he had hoped – his childhood dream to attend West Point was dashed when poor eyesight kept him out. Instead, he followed two younger brothers to Iraq, filming them and their comrades for a film "Brothers at War," that opens this weekend in military towns in North Carolina and Georgia.

"My curiosity was more than intellectual," Jake said. "I had a personal reason to know what my brothers were going through..." Another filmmaker who hadn't wanted to go to West Point might not have been as interested in going to a war zone.

"Wanting to be a soldier played into my willingness to go to the edge of the fight and be there when the bullets were flying by my camera. ... and bring the audience with me."

The movie intertwines the story of the three brothers and other family members, along with soldiers at war and families at home. The film's inside, personal look at the battlefield and the homefront attracted the attention of actor Gary Sinise, who helped find distribution for the movie and eventually became its executive producer.

"This is a brother who wants to know about his own brothers. That gives it a heart," said Sinise, who last year received the Presidential Citizens Medal. The medal recognizes U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation. He was recognized for his work with the USO and with a group he co-founded, Operation Iraqi Children.

"You watch this young filmmaker go from somebody who doesn't know what he's getting himself into into someone who learns a helluva lot about his brothers, who gets to know them better than he did before and by doing that, gets to know a lot about himself."

Jake, 33, is the oldest of five brothers and two sisters who grew up in Decatur, Ill. He went to Iraq in 2005 and 2006, before the surge and, over time, embedded with four combat units.

One revealing scene occurs between U.S. snipers as they wait for insurgents to emerge. The two men talk about whether flowers are an appropriate Christmas gift for a girlfriend – one says yes, one says no – and a teddy bear that one bought for his girl, with her name on the front and soccer number on the back.

On his first visit, he was stationed with his brother, now-Maj. Isaac Rademacher. But that assignment, which consisted of hanging out for days with reconnaissance troops near the Syrian border, drew the disdain of his other brother, Staff Sgt. Joe Rademacher, a sniper who didn't think Jake had experienced the realities of war.

Joe so repudiated Jake's experience that he declined to hug Jake when Jake returned from his first trip to Iraq. It's one of the more excruciating scenes in "Brothers at War," when Jake jumps on Joe, and Joe backs away.

So Jake took up his brother's challenge and returned to Iraq, this time to the Sunni Triangle, at one point being shot at as he filmed and narrowly avoiding a roadside bomb that injured two Iraqi officers.

Joe, 23, "felt like I hadn't gone deep enough into the experience," Jake said. "I hadn't been in a sniper hide site ... things so important to his experience. It was a surprise to me that my little brother rejected my experience when I came home."

Isaac supported his brother's endeavor from the start, knowing how badly Jake had wanted to be a soldier.

"It did hurt his ego when I got in" West Point, said Isaac, 32, who recently was promoted to major and now is the operations officer for an armored cavalry squadron at Fort Bragg. "At the same time, he was happy for me. It's got to be hard to watch your younger brother succeed at something you tried to and it just didn't happen."

While he made the movie to teach civilians about war, Jake said soldiers and their families tell him it's helped them as well because it's allowed the troops to open up about their experiences.

The movie "illustrates and captures what it's like to be a soldier in Iraq," Isaac said. "A guy can sit there with his family and point at the screen and say there, that's almost exactly what I did over there. It gives you a start point to open that conversation."

On the 'Net: http://www.brothersatwarmovie.com/

Ft. Benning: Soldier Mom, Kids Plan to Report for Duty

Lisa Pagan with her husband, Travis, and her children Elizabeth, 4, and Eric, 3, at their home in Davidson, N.C., on Friday. The mom has spent more than a year fighting her recall to active duty. (Chuck Burton/AP)

When Lisa Pagan reports for duty Sunday, four long years after she was honorably discharged from the Army, she will arrive with more than her old uniform. She is bringing her kids, too.

"I have to bring them with me," she said. "I don't have a choice."

Pagan is among thousands of former service members who have left active duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, only to later receive orders to return to service. They are not in training, they are not getting a Defense Department salary, but as long as they have time left on their original enlistment contracts, they are on "individual ready reserve" status — eligible to be recalled at any time.

Soldiers can appeal, and some have won permission to remain in civilian life. Pagan filed several appeals, arguing that because her husband travels for business, no one else can take care of her kids. All were rejected, leaving Pagan with what she says is a choice between deploying to Iraq and abandoning her family, or refusing her orders and potentially facing charges.

Then she hit on the idea of showing up Sunday at Fort Benning, Georgia, with her children in tow.

"I guess they'll have to contact the highest person at the base, and they'll have to decide from there what to do," Pagan said. "I either report and bring the children with me or don't report and face dishonorable discharge and possibly being arrested. I guess I'll just have to make my case while I'm there."

'Obligations and commitments'
Master Sgt. Keith O'Donnell, an Army spokesman in St. Louis, said the commander at Fort Benning will decide how to handle the situation.

"The Army tries to look at the whole picture and they definitely don't want to do anything that jeopardizes the family or jeopardizes the children," O'Donnell said. "At the same time, these are individuals who made obligations and commitments to the country."

Of the 25,000 individual ready reserve troops recalled since September 2001, more than 7,500 have been granted deferments or exemptions, O'Donnell said. About 1,000 have failed to report. O'Donnell said most of those cases are still under investigation, while 360 soldiers have been separated from the Army either through "other than honorable" discharges or general discharges.

He said Pagan is not likely to face charges, since none of the individual ready reserve soldiers who have failed to report faced a court-martial.

Pagan, who grew up near Camden, N.J., was working in a department store when she made her commitment in September 2002. She learned how to drive a truck, and met Travis while stationed in Hawaii. She had her first child while in uniform, and they left the service in 2005 when their enlistments were up.

She always knew there was a chance she could be recalled, so she buried the thought in the back of her mind.

"When I enlisted, they said almost nobody gets called back when you're in the IRR," she said.

The young family settled outside of Charlotte in the college town of Davidson, where Travis landed a job as a salesman. It required lots of travel, but that was OK — Pagan enjoyed her life as a stay-at-home mom to their son Eric and second child, a daughter named Elizabeth.

She opened a child-care center in her home, and started taking classes at nearby Fayetteville State.

Mom makes her plea
The orders to return to active duty arrived in December 2007. She told the Army there was no one to take care of her children: Her husband spent most of his time on the road, and they believe quitting his job is a sure path to bankruptcy and foreclosure. Her parents live in New Jersey and her husband's parents live in Texas. Neither are able to help out. The Army was not persuaded.

Pagan hired attorney Mark Waple, who filed another appeal, which included a letter from Travis Pagan's employer that said bluntly: "In order for Travis to remain an employee, he will be required to travel." In December 2008, her appeal was again rejected.

"It's the obligation of commanders to make certain that service members have a valid family care plan and that clearly has not happened in Lisa's case," Waple said.

Tom Tarantino, a policy associate with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a nonprofit group that helps veterans, said the Army has taken a hard line on many of these cases.

"Usually the only way that someone can get out of the deployment or get out of the military due to a family hardship is if they get into a situation where the kids will be put into foster care," Tarantino said.

"That's how serious it has to be, and I'm sure what the military is telling her — and I'm not saying that this is exactly the right answer — but the fact that it is inconvenient for her husband's job is not the military's problem. It's very harsh."

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning.

Georgia National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade Heads To Afghanistan

Lt. Col. Kenneth Baldowski says about 2,400 of the Georgia National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade will be heading for a one-year deployment to Afghanistan in the coming months.

Citizen soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 108th Cavalry Regiment will head to Ft. Polk, La., next month for training. Guard spokesman Baldowski said Tuesday that once in Afghanistan, the Georgia Guard members will be training Afghan police and military forces. Baldowski said the brigade's soldiers will deploy overseas in waves between March and June.

The 48th Brigade spent a year deployed to Iraq in 2005. The brigade of 4,000 troops is headquartered in Macon, with units based across the state.

(Associated Press)

74-Year-Old Ga. Army Combat Doc On 3rd Combat Tour

Dr. John Burson speaks during an interview at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009. Burson, 74, a retired ear nose and throat specialist from Carrolton, Ga., was at Fort Benning finishing a week-long training course before being deployed for a 90-day rotation with the 101st Airborne Division. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Dr. John Burson balked when a skeptical Army staffer asked him to undergo a three-day physical exam to make sure he was fit to deploy as a field surgeon to Afghanistan.

"Look, I'm training to run a half-marathon," replied Burson, 74, a retired lieutenant colonel. "You come down and check to see if I can make it."

Burson won the debate and was declared fit for duty. The ear, nose and throat specialist from Carrolton wrapped up a weeklong training course this week at Fort Benning before his scheduled deployment Friday for a 90-day rotation with a unit of the 101st Airborne Division.

The first of two stints in Iraq proved unforgettable back in 2005, he said. Burson was among several doctors assigned to keep watch over an imprisoned Saddam Hussein.

The fallen dictator, who was three years younger than Burson, told him: "I'm glad they sent me one with gray hair this time."

"He likes to say, 'Where else can a 74-year-old go and have fun?'" said Barbara Burson, his wife of 53 years. "I don't know if I see it as fun, but he enjoys doing it. And anyone would feel good about being able to contribute."

In Afghanistan, Burson will oversee a medical staff treating about 1,000 soldiers. He'll likely spend much of his time working in a base clinic, but could be called to treat soldiers wounded during combat patrols. When he served in Iraq, it wasn't unusual for him to work through mortar rounds being fired at his base camp.

"There's an element of risk," Burson said. "But statistically it's probably not any more hazardous than driving to work."

Lt. Col. Twanda Young said about 400 soldiers, reservists and civilian contractors go through the Fort Benning training center she commands each week, preparing to join units already overseas. Burson isn't the only gray-haired volunteer she's seen — but she said his abilities make his age irrelevant.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Fort Benning and military affairs.

Troops Return Home to New President

As Barack Obama began the first full day of his presidency, there was a homecoming for troops returning from Iraq.

About 80 troops from the army's 63rd Signal Battalion Company B came home early this morning. They reunited with family and friends in a gym at the Fort Gordon army base near Augusta, after serving in Iraq for 15 months.

These troops return home to a new president, one who wants to end the war. Obama has said he wants to pull troops out of Iraq during the next 16 months.

"I'm happy to have a new president, and I'm ready for change," said Sgt. Kimberly Miller, declined to say who she voted for. "Hopefully the deployments will slow down and all of our comrades will get home safely."

During their time in Iraq, Miller and her fellow troops maintained communications, such as internet and telephones, for the army.

48th Brigade prepares to deploy to Afghanistan

Members of the Georgia National Guard's 48th Brigade, based in Macon, have begun mobilizing to deploy to Afghanistan. The 48th is made up of smaller units spread across the state. The 108th squad from North Georgia was mobilized this week. Over the next four months several other units will be activated. About 75-percent of the Guard's 4-thousand soldiers will go to Afghanistan where they will help train Afghan national security forces. The 48th was last deployed to Iraq in May of 2005. Twenty-six of their soldiers died during that deployment.

10th congressional district candidates spar over military service

As Election Day nears, the race for the tenth congressional district has taken a bitter turn with the Democratic challenger, Bobby Saxon, questioning the military service of the Republican incumbent, Rep. Paul Broun.

Saxon says Broun is misleading the public by saying he served in the Marine reserves in the "pre-Vietnam War era."

He says 20,000 American troops died in Vietnam during Broun's time in the Marines.

The two argued about Broun's service in an Atlanta Press Club debate at GPB's studios on Sunday.

"Will you look into the camera and tell the people of the tenth district why you misled them about your military record?" says Saxon.

"Bobby, you're so full of it," Broun replied. "You've not only impugned me, but every single person who served in the military who did not go to war."

Broun says he served in the active duty marine reserves from 1964-1967. Broun was serving when thousands of the casualties noted by Saxon happened. About 8000 of those deaths happened during his first three years. Broun was never deployed to Vietnam, although he says his unit eventually was.

In interviews with GPB, Broun has characterized his military service as beginning before things in Vietnam "got hot."

The war escalated with 11,000 American troop deaths in 1967, the year Broun started school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He says he changed his military commission to the Navy reserves because of school.

Broun strongly disputes any implications that he avoided the war or that his lack of combat experience renders him unqualified to be a congressman.

Broun says his decision to leave the marines was MCG's call, since a deployment would have interrupted his education.

"The medical school made me get out of active Marine reserves so I had a commission in the Navy as a general medical officer," Broun said in the debate.

But Dr. Lois Ellison, MCG's historian, says the school has never required students to avoid active duty.

"I can assure you that that has never been the case," says Ellison. She says the school allowed deferments to students if they were called up, and that the military badly needed medical personnel during the war.

But Ellison also adds that she cannot speak to what an individual, such as an advisor, might have personally said to Broun.

Ellison was unsure how many MCG students served in Vietnam.

Bobby Saxon is also a veteran, serving in the army and the national guard. He spent a year in Iraq as a combat battle major with the 3rd Infantry Division.

Saxon, meanwhile, released a video advertisement via YouTube today questioning Broun's service.

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs visits Augusta

Dr. James Peake, the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, says he’s talked with officials at hospitals here about the possibility of expanding medical care for wounded veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Peake toured the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center and the Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta today.

He praised community efforts on the expansion, but stopped short of giving specifics on what role his agency would play, suggesting there may be other priorities to consider.

"We’re always re-assessing what we have as a mission requirement," Peake told reporters. "We’re talking about space issues today…about how to expand our primary care space to provide a separate portal for women. We’ve brought a gynecologist on board in the VA hospital, so that’s shifting and adjusting our mission to meet the need of our veterans."

Peake has previously pledged to improve health care for women veterans. The focus on women's care comes as a congressional report earlier this year said women don't get the same quality of outpatient care as men in several VA medical centers in the U.S. About 14 percent of veterans are women.

The Eisenhower and Charlie Norwood centers already treat many wounded troops. Medical personnel and community leaders want to build on that by increasing efforts in medical care and rehabilitation and subsequently bringing more wounded active duty troops here, making Augusta a hub for treating them.

They say coordinating medical services among all facilities here and getting federal dollars could potentially help relieve the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. That’s where many active duty troops go to recover from war injuries.

The Medical College of Georgia and the Joseph M. Still Burn Center are also among medical care facilities located in Augusta.

McCain: Lewis' remarks 'shocking, beyond the pale'

Lewis addressing the audience at a rally held at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville, on September 23, 2008. (file/Dave Bender)

Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement, says the negative tone of the Republican presidential campaign reminds him of the hateful atmosphere that segregationist Gov. George Wallace fostered in Alabama in the 1960s.

Republican candidate John McCain on Saturday called Lewis' remarks "shocking and beyond the pale."

The Obama campaign said the Illinois senator doesn't believe McCain or his policy criticism is at all comparable to Wallace and his segregationist policies.

In a statement issued Saturday, Lewis said McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were "sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse." He noted that Wallace also ran for president.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights," said Lewis, who is black. "Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

One of the seminal events of the civil rights movement was the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963. Four black girls died in the blast, which was linked to a Ku Klux Klan group.

Late Saturday, Lewis released another statement saying it was not his "intention or desire" to directly compare McCain or Palin to Wallace.

"My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior," he said. "I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation."

Lewis' comments follow widely reported examples of anger at McCain rallies that has been aimed at Obama, the first black man to be a major party's nominee for president. During some rallies featuring McCain and Palin, supporters have shouted "traitor," "terrorist," "treason," "liar" and even "off with his head."

The outbursts came amid a harshly personal line of attack against Obama by the GOP campaign. McCain and Palin have said Obama failed to tell the truth about his ties to 1960s radical William Ayers, had a radical agenda on abortion, and wasn't really known to voters. Last weekend, Palin signaled the uptick in the criticism when she charged that Obama was "palling around with terrorists," a reference to Ayers, and that he didn't see the U.S. as others did.

McCain drew boos at a town-hall meeting Friday in Minnesota when he defended Obama after a supporter said he feared what would happen if Obama were elected president. He also cut short a woman who said Obama was an Arab, and he called his rival "a decent, family man."

On Saturday, McCain called on Obama to repudiate Lewis' remarks. While dismissing the comparison to Wallace, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said Lewis was on target in other ways.

"John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for president of the United States 'pals around with terrorists,'" Burton said in a statement.

In his remarks, Lewis also said: "As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

McCain rejected any comparison to Wallace.

"I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track," McCain said.

In August, while appearing at a forum on faith, McCain was asked to name three "wise people" he would listen to. He cited Lewis as well as Gen. David Petreaus, head of U.S. troops in Iraq, and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a top adviser to his campaign.

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the presidential race.

Ft. Benning Ranger killed in Iraq

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. William P. Rudd, 27, of Madisonville, Ky., died October 5th of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire while on a combat patrol in Mosul, Iraq.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga.

As of Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, at least 4,178 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,383 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is one fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.

Syria ordered to pay Marietta family

A federal judge has awarded more than $400 million to the families of two American men who were kidnapped and decapitated while working as civilian contractors in Iraq. The families of Jack Hensley, of Marietta, and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, of Hillsdale, Mich., had filed a federal lawsuit in 2006 against Syria, which they claimed supported the group that killed the two men in 2004. The two were subcontractors working in Baghdad for an American consortium providing civilian support to the U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq. Federal Judge Rosemary M. Collyer in Washington handed down the award on Sept. 26. The court order describes evidence from a three-day trial in January. Syria never answered the claims or appeared to contest them.

(Associated Press)

Ft. Stewart soldier charged in 2 murders

A Fort Stewart soldier is charged with murder in the September shooting deaths of two members of his unit in Iraq. Fort Stewart officials identified the accused soldier as 39-year-old Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich of Minneapolis. He is charged in the Sept. 14 slayings of Army Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson and Sgt. Wesley Durbin at their patrol base in central Iraq. The Army has released few details about the slayings, though written charges against Bozicevich say he shot the two soldiers with a rifle.

(Associated Press)