In a speech honoring veterans on Memorial Day at Arlington, Va., President Barack Obama said Army Specialist David Hickman was the last to die in the Iraq war.
Recalling that Hickman's vehicle struck a roadside bomb, Obama said he "became the last of nearly 4,500 American patriots to give their lives in Iraq."
According to icasualties.org, however, Hickman was not the last fatality of the Iraq war, although he was the last who died as a result of hostile fire.
The last fatality listed on that site is Army Private First Class Cesar Cortez, of Oceanside, CA. The site does not list the actual cause, only listing it as "non-hostile."
The Army Times reported that Cortez died Feb. 11, 2012, in Sitra, Bahrain, the victim of a vehicle accident.
KTSM reported that Cortez "served as a network switching systems operator-maintainer with the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. He deployed to Bahrain in December 2011 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom." His unit was stationed at nearby Fort Bliss before being deployed.
http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-incorrectly-names-last-iraq-casualty-at-memorial-day-speech
He (THE ONE) has speech writers and teleprompters, yet he still makes a mistake?
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
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