A U.S. Marine was killed in a motor vehicle accident during combat operations in central Iraq, the military said Friday. The Marine, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was killed Wednesday in Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. No other details were provided. The name of the Marine was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. As of Thursday, April 7, 2005, at least 1,543 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
