Q: How many deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq were due to combat and how many are non-combat related? — Don Haller, Douglasville
A: As of Aug. 9, there had been 4,408 U.S. military and 13 Department of Defense civilian deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom, for a total of 4,421 according to the DOD. Of those, 3,489 were the result of combat, meaning 932 were non-hostile. There have been 1,619 U.S. military deaths and two DOD civilians deaths in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan only), of which 270 were non-hostile. Operation Enduring Freedom also includes U.S. military forces in 15 other countries: Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen. There have been 100 deaths in those countries, 89 of which were non-hostile. The numbers of fatalities can be found at www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf
Q: Is there an organization that passes unused medications on to cancer patients who can't afford the medications? — Ellen Yordan, Douglasville
A: Unused drugs of any kind should never be shared with another person, according to the American Cancer Society. For proper disposal, some communities have drug take-back programs that collect drugs (those not labeled "to be flushed"). Check with your city or county about those programs.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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