Two Tennessee Marines killed in Iraq; December deadliest month for US troops

According to reports a Marine reservist from Paris, Tenn., was among four Americans killed in battle in Iraq, the military stated to media on Friday.

According to reports a Marine reservist from Paris, Tenn., was among four Americans killed in battle in Iraq, the military stated to media on Friday. This has made December the year’s bloodiest month for U.S. troops reaching a dreadful 108 deaths.

The Pentagon stated that 20 year-old Lance Cpl. William D. Spencer from Paris, TN was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, in Nashville. Lance Cpl. William C. Koprince Jr., 24, of Lenoir City, Tenn. was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Fort Bragg.

Lance Cpl. William D. Spencer along with two other marines and one soldier were conducting combat operations. A military official stated that an IED, or improvised explosive device, struck and killed Marine Lance Cpl. William D. Spencer in Al Anbar province where he died around 10:45 a.m. Iraq time on Wednesday.

Since the Iraq war began in March 2003 reports state that more than 2,997 members of the U.S. military have been killed. Two of the soldiers, the military have classified as Iraq casualties, have not been confirmed as Iraq-related deaths.

Since the execution of former president and dictator Saddam Hussein on Saturday December 30, 2006 more violence is expected by government officials.

The most recent was a suicide bomber who wore an explosives’ belt and detonated himself near a Shiite mosque in Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding about a dozen.

On Friday, twenty-two bodies which showed signs of torture were found dumped on the streets of the Iraqi capital, and 10 more were found in Baqouba northeast of Baghdad, police and morgue according to officials.