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Army to apologize for letters

FRANK ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press

January 5, 2007

WASHINGTON — The Army said Friday it would apologize to the families of
about 275 officers killed or wounded in action who were mistakenly sent
letters urging them to return to active duty.

The letters were sent a few days after Christmas to more than 5,100
Army officers who had recently left the service. Included were letters to
about 75 officers killed in action and about 200 wounded in action. The
75 represent more than one-third of all Army officers who have died in
Iraq since the war began.

"Army personnel officials are contacting those officers' families now
to personally apologize for erroneously sending the letters," the Army
said in a brief news release issued Friday night.

The Army did not say how or when the mistake was discovered. It said
the database normally used for such correspondence with former officers
had been "thoroughly reviewed" to remove the names of wounded or dead
soldiers.

"But an earlier list was used inadvertently for the December mailings,"
the Army statement said, adding that the Army is apologizing to those
officers and families affected and "regrets any confusion."

The total number of Army officers who have died in Iraq since the war
began stood at 217 as of Dec. 2, according to the latest available
Pentagon statistics. In all, the Army has had 1,552 soldiers _ combining
officers and enlisted _ killed in action in Iraq since the war began in
March 2003, plus 409 who died of non-hostile causes.

The number of Army officers wounded in action in Iraq stood at 894 as
of Dec. 2, out of an Army total _ for both officers and enlisted _ of
14,165, according to the latest Pentagon figures.

Altogether, at least 3,006 members of the U.S. military have died in
Iraq since the war began, according to an Associated Press count.

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