More Guam Military Personnel May Be Called To Action In Afghanistan

More Guam Military Personnel May Be Called To Action In Afghanistan

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Wednesday, 25 November 2009 14:49

Obama's Move For War Closure Could Cost The Territory Dearly

GUAM - President Obama's resolve to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan is raising red flags on what that means for Guam's Reservists, National Guardsmen, and active-duty personnel. Obama will announce next Tuesday whether he'll send 30,000-plus additional troops to the troubled nation.

The idea is to finally put an end to this costly, bitter war that has claimed many lives and dragged on for eight long years.

But for Guam families, the natural concern stems from the possible likelihood that more local soldiers will be sent into harm's way.

Quoting the Military Times on June 24th of this year, Guam News Factor reported Guam's rates of death among U.S. servicemembers on active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq during the 2001-07 period as 47.3 percent higher than Vermont's. Vermont is the state with the highest rate of service-time death in Iraq and Afghanistan for that period.

While Vermont lost an average of 2.89 per 100,000 of those serving in the combined areas, Guam lost an average of 4.61 per 100,000.