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4,416th to die: Aug. 22, 2010 – Army Sgt. Brandon E. Maggart, 24, a Fort Lewis soldier from Kirksville, Mo., died at Basrah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using indirect fire. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Married, with one child, Maggart enlisted in 2006 a year after graduating from Kirksville R-III High School. His widow Teresa, in an obituary, remembered him as “Husband, Father, Hero,” words she planned to use in a banner to welcome him home for forthcoming visit. “We had so many plans for Brandon’s leave,” she said, “fishing, golfing, going to [son] Blake’s first soccer game, going to the ocean, Seahawks & Mariners game, and of course eating at Outback…just a few of his favorite things to do… While the thought of living without my best friend and husband is unbearable, it eases my pain to know that he is safe in the arms of the Lord living in us every day…America lost a great soldier and heaven gained an angel.”

4,414th to die: Aug. 7, 2010 – Army Spc. Faith R. Hinkley, 23, a Fort Lewis solider from Colorado Springs, Colo., died in Baghdad, of wounds suffered after insurgents attacked her unit in Iskandariya, Iraq. She was assigned to the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. She graduated from Monte Vista High in 2006 where she was a cheer¬leader for four years and a member of the golf team. Hinckley enlisted in 2007 and was trained as a human-intelligence collector. A Facebook page in her honor notes that “She has left her imprint on the farming community of 4,300 people. Myrna Wartman, a neighbor whose children grew up with Faith commented, ‘I can’t say enough good. She’s everything you would want in a person.’ Stan Harlan, another neighbor, had snapped a picture of Faith and her siblings when she was home on leave just before her deployment. In that moment, he pondered that someone so young could be fighting to protect her fellow citizens’ rights. ‘It didn’t even cross my mind she might not come home.’ She gave the ultimate sacrifice for a lot of people.”

4,406th to die: June 15, 2010 – Army Spc. Christopher W. Opat, 29, a Stryker solider from Spencer, Iowa, died in Baqubah, Iraq of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. Military officials launched an investigation, but offered no other details. Opat was assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis. He graduated from Crestwood High School in Cresco, Iowa, in 1999, and obtained a construction degree from Iowa Lakes Community College. He joined the Army in 2003. His family – mother, father, two brothers and two sisters – were in mourning, but Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the death of another brave young person serving our country overseas. Our thoughts and prayers are with Christopher’s family and loved ones. Spc. Opat was courageous in his service, and I join all Iowans in mourning his loss.” 

4,404th and 4,405th to die: June 11, 2005 – Army Sgt. Israel P. O’Bryan, 24, of Newbern, Tenn., and Spc. William C. Yauch, 23, of Batesville, Ark., both members of a Fort Lewis Stryker unit, died in Jalula, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.  They were assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. O’Bryan was a 2004 graduate of Dyer High School where he ran track and played soccer. Known as Izzy, O’Bryan joined the Army in 2006 when he met his wife; they had one son. In an obituary, the family said that widow Brenna, a former active-duty soldier with the same brigade, met Israel on a previous deployment to Iraq. Israel “loved children and his son’s birth was a true blessing. While in high school, Israel was active in sports, including boxing, soccer and baseball. He also enjoyed a good shopping day!” “Chris” Yauch, who was married, was a 2005 graduate of Batesville High. He had a fondness for motorcycles and tinkering with his car, his family recalled. Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor said Yauch “served our nation with great courage, honor, and distinction, and embodied the meaning of ‘a true patriot.'”

4,394th to die: April 27, 2010 – Army Sgt. Keith A. Coe, 30, a Stryker leader from Auburndale, Fla., died in Khalis, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an explosive device. He was assigned to Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. He enlisted in 2007 and was on his first Iraq deployment. Married, with three children, Coe had trouble with the law early on, said his family, but turned his life around. He met his wife at a restaurant the pair worked at, followed by a Hawaiian-themed wedding, said his grandmother Dawn Jones. A competitor, Coe worked extra hard to make sure the men reporting to him couldn’t outdo him, his family said. He was also a prankster, “a fun-loving, crazy guy,” said friend Jason Hutchinson. “He’d do anything for anybody.”

4,392nd to die: April 22, 2010 – Army Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Worrell, 35, a Stryker Brigade leader from Virginia Beach, Va., died in Baghdad in a non-combat incident. He was assigned to Fort Lewis’ 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and was on his second tour in Iraq. Worrell, based at Fort Lewis since 1998, was married and had two children. His brother Patrick Worrell said Chris joined the service after graduation from Virginia Beach’s Green Run High School. He was dedicated to the service and “planned on it being what he did with his life,” Patrick said. “He was just very happy to serve.” Friends David and Vivian Kind of Lakewood recalled Worrell as a man who loved his family and his country. “Chris was always a gentleman in class, always willing to lend a helping hand,” the Kinds wrote in an online memorial. “Chris and [wife] Laura were great together, the hero and the teacher.”

4,384th to die: March 13, 2010 – Army Pfc. Erin L. McLyman, 26, of Federal Way, died in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked her base with mortar fire. She was assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Lewis. A 2001 grad of Sheldon High in Eugene, McLyman had dropped out of school earlier but worked hard to return, and was honored the school’s Turnaround Achievement Award student. She was a competitor, said her father, Robert McLyman, determined not to be left behind because of her gender. “If the guys were doing it, she’d do it,” he said. “She’d do it twice as good just to prove a point.” Added her widower, Brian Williams, “She wanted to go fight for her country. She did whatever they asked her to do,” including becoming an Army mechanic. “She was by far the most outgoing woman I ever met in my life.”

4,380th to die: Feb. 25, 2010 – Army Sgt. William C. Spencer, 40, of Tacoma, died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds sustained Feb. 20 while supporting combat operations at Combat Outpost Marez, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 146th Field Artillery Regiment, Olympia, Wash. The cause of his death is under investigation, the Army said. “I am deeply saddened by the loss of Sgt. Spencer,” said Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. “The entire state stands with me in expressing our gratitude for his service and our condolences to his family.” Spencer served with the Washington Army National Guard’s 81st Brigade Combat Team in Iraq through August 2009, and opted to stay in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard when the 81st returned home.

4,376th to die: Feb. 10, 2010 – Army Pfc. Adriana Alvarez, 20, of San Benito, Texas, died in Baghdad of injuries sustained while deployed with Fort Lewis’ 504th Military Police Battalion. The policewoman was found with a gunshot wound, according to her sister Alma Alvarez. Military officials were investigating the shooting. Her sister dreamed of becoming a police officer, Alma Alvarez said, and joined the Army in 2008. “She wanted to pursue a career in the criminal justice department and she decided the best way was to get into the military,” said Alma. Nonetheless, the family was “devastated. We didn’t want her to go but there was nothing we could do. She knew there were risks. She knew she had to do it for her country. She did what she had to do and she was proud of it.”