First Coalition deaths during Iraq War 2003
16The first deaths of coalition personnel occurred in an accident before dawn on the 21st:
A U.S. CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed in a sandstorm in Kuwait killing the 4 US flight crew and the 8 British Marines being transported.
Then a few hours later at around 8:30 am, a 30 year old US Marine Corps 2nd Lieutenant became the first member of the coalition forces killed by enemy fire
Before dawn Therrel Shane Childers led an attack to secure an oil pumping station in the Rumaila Oil Fields.
The objective was secured without incident but later in the morning Childers and his unit came under fire from Iraqi personnel fleeing the area in an SUV.
A single round from an AK-47 hit Childers a few millimeters below his armored plate, entered his side and hit a major artery.
Despite the best efforts of his men and the corpsman he died on the scene.
By The end of 2011 close to 4800 coalition personnel would have died in Iraq
Thanks to the chaos and conflict that followed the invasion as many as 1 million Iraqis were killed in the same time period
Childer’s Article:
https://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/the-first-to-die-2012090