kgw.com

SEATTLE - May was the deadliest month for Washington's service members since the Iraq war began in March 2003, with 23 deaths reported as of Friday.

The state's death toll nearly doubled the previous worst month of December 2004, when 12 were killed. Nationwide, 123 U.S. soldiers died in May, the third-worst month since the war began.

One of those from Washington recently killed was Staff Sgt. Thomas Michael McFall, 36, of Glendora, Calif., who died Monday when a roadside bomb exploded nearby during a dismounted patrol in Baghdad. He was a member of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, one of two Fort Lewis Stryker brigades serving in Iraq.

McFall had also served in Korea and Afghanistan.

He and wife, Emily, often opened their home during Christmas and Thanksgiving to his fellow soldiers.

"He loved the brotherhood, and his heart beat red, white, and blue ... there was only one exit for him," Emily McFall said.

The 4th Brigade, which left for Iraq in April, has suffered nine casualties. The 3rd Brigade, set to return from Iraq in October, arrived for its second mission last summer and has lost 29. There were 20 who died during its previous yearlong deployment.

According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer count, updated with Friday information from the Department of Defense, 191 service members from the state have died in Iraq, including those either from Washington's military communities, with close family ties or with hometowns here. Another 13 have died in Afghanistan.

Fort Lewis deaths have accounted for 119 of those deaths in Iraq since March 2003.

Last month, President Bush warned that U.S. troops would likely be killed and wounded in greater numbers in the coming months as the "surge" of U.S. forces he ordered to Iraq this year continues.

Fort Lewis is the third-largest Army post in the country and has about 10,000 soldiers in Iraq, including the 3rd and 4th brigades with about 4,000 soldiers each, as well as smaller units.

The two brigades have been engaged in heavy fighting in and around Baghdad, trying to quell heavy sectarian fighting.

The Bremerton-based aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and its 5,000 sailors last week moved into the Persian Gulf for training and what was the latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline.

There are now at least 17,000 service members with Washington links from all branches of the armed forces in the Middle East.