This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sergeant Mark A. Maida, 22, of Madison who died Friday, May 27, 2005 in Baghdad of injuries he sustained the day before when the Humvee he was riding in struck an explosive mine in Diyarah, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Mark was a 2001 graduate of James Madison Memorial High School in Madison. He enlisted in the Army the same year. He had plans to come home on leave in July to get married. Mark Maida's three-year military term was completed in October, 2004 but he was required to stay in via the U.S. military's "stop loss" program. He already had enrolled for classes at Madison Area Technical College. The "stop loss" program is best defined as personnel who would otherwise leave the military when their volunteer commitments is up, are forced to remain to the end of their unit's overseas deployments and also could be required to stay in an additional 90 days after they come home. Sergeant Maida was deployed to Iraq in January of 2005 with his unit, E Troop, 2nd Squadron, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Irwin, California. The Journal Sentinel went on to say Mark's brother Chris Maida, returned in April, 2005 from a six-month tour in Iraq as a U.S. Marine. At the time of his death Mark Maida was survived by his dad Ray Maida, a retired Madison police detective, and mom Diane Maida. He was also survived also by his brothers Chris and Aaron, and a sister, Juliann Mutch. Sergeant Mark Maida was the 38th Wisconsin military service member killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.

                                   As of this blog entry's posting date:

    95,158 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
    
    9,368 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    4,378 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    965 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    317 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    627 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    31,639 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    4,869 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    101 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    17 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    139 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    17 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.