Two Marines Killed in Iraq; DoD Identifies Previous Casualties

Two Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died yesterday in separate incidents due to enemy action in Iraq’s Anbar province, and the Defense Department released the identities of five servicemembers killed recently in Iraq.

The names of the deceased Marines are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The Defense Department announced the identities of three soldiers and two Marines recently killed in Iraq:

• Army Sgt. Ryan D. Jopek, 20, of Merrill, Wis., died Aug. 2 in Tikrit of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy. Jopek was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment, Waupun, Wis.

• Army Sgt. Dustin D. Laird, 23, of Martin, Tenn., died Aug. 2 in Rawah. Laird was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 913th Engineer Company, 46th Engineer Battalion, Union City, Tenn.

• Marine Cpl. Joseph A. Tomci, 21, of Stow, Ohio, died Aug. 2 in Anbar province. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

• Army Spc. Hai Ming Hsia, 37, of New York, N.Y., died Aug. 1 in Ramadi. Hsia was assigned to the 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany.

• Marine Pfc. Jason Hanson, 21, of Forks, Wash., died July 29 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province. He was assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq and DoD news releases.)

Story by American Forces Press Service