Deaths hit 3,000: How father learns

The U.S. military death toll in Iraq reached 3,000 on Sunday, with the reported deaths of two more Americans. It came on the day after the execution of Saddam Hussein.

More Americans have died this month -- at least 110 -- than in any month since November 2004. Spc. Dustin R. Donica, 22, of Spring, Texas, was killed Thursday by small arms fire in Baghdad, the Defense Department said Sunday, making him the 3000th to die.

Donica was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

David Donica said he learned his son's death was the 3,000th for the U.S. military in Iraq after logging on to the Internet, not long after declining to be interviewed by reporters who had come to the family's home.

"We had no idea why we were getting, within an hour almost, eight or nine people at the door," he said later Sunday. "That was a surprise to us because none of them mentioned why they were there. Perhaps, they were embarrassed. One guy was standing there shaking like a leaf."

Dustin Donica's unit was conducting counter-insurgency operations in Karmah, in Iraq's al-Anbar province, when he was fatally struck by small-arms fire from enemy forces, an Army spokesman said.

"They are trying to create a safe and secure environment for the people of Iraq (and are) working with Iraqi security forces to get them able to take over the security mission," said Maj. Kirk Gohlke.

Reached later by phone, Donica declined to talk about his son, saying, "That would be hard for me to do."

But in an e-mail sent to news organizations, he said, "Dustin had a tremendous sense of duty, both to his family, and his country. He will be missed by his family, and all those that knew him."

Born and raised in Houston, Dustin Donica was a 2002 graduate of Klein High School. He enlisted in 2003 after a stint at the University of Texas at Austin. He completed basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., where he received the coveted airborne wings of an Army paratrooper.

The photo from the Houston Chronicle is a courtesy photo from Klein High School where he was a 2002 graduate. Fort Benning (GA) is the Infantry Center where paratroopes receive their training..

A detailed breakdown on casualties can be found in Editor & Publisher

The story quoting Donica’s father is by Mike Glenn in the Houston Chronicle.

There were 130 Ohioans killed.