More than 4,000 American troops died in the eight-plus years of the Iraq War that ended in 2011. But over the past year or so, the U.S. has introduced small numbers of special-operations forces and others to advise and support Iraqi troops in their fight against the Islamic State. Three Americans have been killed in that effort since last October. The U.S. announced the latest death on Wednesday: a Navy SEAL killed in fighting near Irbil. A day later, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the fight against ISIS “is far from over.”
Carter identified the slain Navy SEAL as Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Keating, 31. Keating was the grandson of Charles Keating, the banker at the center of the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Keating lived in Coronado, California, and was engaged to be married in November. He was a graduate of Arcadia High School in Phoenix where he was a standout runner. Keating was a student-athlete at Indiana University, which he attended from 2004 to 2006, according to the university. The Union-Tribune reported Keating then attended the Naval Academy and in 2008 passed the tryout process for the SEALs.
Here are the other Americans killed in Iraq since last October: