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Jamaican casualties in Iraq

A GROWING NUMBER of Jamaicans are paying the ultimate price with their lives in the U.S.-led war on Iraq. According to news reports, four Jamaicans have been killed while serving in the U.S armed forces - three were members of the army, and one was a marine.

The latest Jamaican casualty is Army Sgt. 1st Class Neil Armstrong Prince. He was buried on Tuesday at the Arlington National cemetery in Maryland, and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

Prince, 35, migrated from Jamaica in 1980 with his family and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He was killed on June 11 by a roadside bomb near the town of Al Taqaddum in Iraq.

He is survived by his widow Suzette, son Jordan, parents Cecil and Retinella Prince, sisters Ann-Marie Richards and Ava Prince and brothers, Shane Prince and Aldean Lindo.

Eight months before Prince was killed, another Jamaican, Army Sgt Pamela G. Osbourne lost her life during a rocket attack on her camp in Baghdad. She was killed on October 11, 2004.

Lifelong dreams

Osbourne, 38, also left Jamaica in 1980. She is survived by her husband Rohan and children Rohan Jr. 14 and LaToya, 9. According to her widower, she could have avoided serving in the military because of a medical condition, however, it was one of her lifelong dreams.

A little less than a year earlier on November 11, 2003, Army Special Marlon P. Jackson, was killed during a roadside bombing near Baghdad, Iraq. He was 25 years old. A resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, Jackson was affectionately called 'Fudgie'.

One of his friends, Andrea Sandy said of Jackson on his memoriam blog: "He was a real cool cat. I remember teasing him because he was so quiet. We hung out together at little Caribbean get-togethers because I am from Trinidad ... He would proudly display his Jamaican flag in his Acura Legend and was always present at a party."

Jackson is survived by his mother Sonia Fearon-Yorke and adopted parents Leighton Jackson and Lois La Grenade. Jackson's body was taken back to Kingston for burial with full military honours.

First killed

But, the first Jamaican to be killed in Iraq was Marine Corporal Bernard Brent Gooden. He was killed in a firefight with Iraqi forces near Baghdad on April 4, 2003. Gooden was also posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

Gooden, a former head boy of the Christiana Comprehensive High School, left Jamaica in July of 1997. He joined the Marine Corps as a means of paying for his college education at either Fordham or New York University, both in New York. His ultimate career goal was to become a lawyer.

Gooden was buried with full military honours in Wild Cane district, St. Ann. He is survived by his mother Carmen Palmer and sister Raquel Davidson.

It is estimated that more than 2,000 immigrant soldiers are serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq or Afghanistan, and approximately 8,000 immigrants join the armed forces each year.

Last year, Congress allowed more benefits for families of those who die in war. Non-citizen spouses, children and parents of a fallen soldier are now given expedited consideration of their own requests for citizenship, according to the immigration service.