Politics & Government

The Iraq War, 10 Years of Casualties: Milpitas Feels its Touch

It's been 10 years since the start of the Iraq War. Milpitas lost one of its own in the Iraq War.

The 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began 10 years ago this week – on March 19, 2003 – and although officially "over," fighting continues with discouraging persistence.

By one count, the war is directly responsible for 189,000 deaths, not including those who died from hardship caused by the fighting.

CNN has developed a stunning map of all casualties in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Find out what's happening in Milpitaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In all, 4,802 Americans and allies have died in the war, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, including 476 Californians.

Among them, one soldier from Milpitas:

Find out what's happening in Milpitaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Doonewey Abines White 

White was killed May 29, 2007 at the age of 26 in Balad, Iraq of wounds he suffered when a road-side bomb exploded near his vehicle during combat operations the day before in Baghdad, Iraq. 

Army Specialist White was a native of the Philippines but grew up in Milpitas, according to Blogger Bill Moore. At the time of his death, White was engaged and together they were expecting their first child.

The City of Milpitas has a program in which city streets can be named after fallen veterans in memory of them. According to Moore, a street was planned to be named after Doonewey near S. Main Street near a planned Alexan condos project. However, a quick search could not locate the street. 

White attended Andrew P. Hill High School in San Jose, according to the Los Angeles Times. Although he dropped out of high school, he earned his general equivalency diploma so that he could enlist in the Army, according to the Times

Did you know Doonewey? Share your memories of or tributes to him in the comments section below.

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