At least 13 soldiers with Southwest Washington ties have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since the United States invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003.

The Defense Department reports 3,988 troops from across the nation killed in action, including 82 from Washington. Another 857 Washington troops have been wounded. The state of Washington has 8,071 troops deployed today and has sent 50,960 of its sons and daughters to the war.

As of Tuesday, The Washington Post account differed slightly from the government’s, reporting 3,979 troops dead during the five years in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and another 482 dead from action in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom), for a total of 4,461 American dead.

Dozens of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from Southwest Washington have seen action. Many have been to battle twice and some three times in the five years.

Most of Southwest Washington’s troops were assigned to ships, aircraft and units from across the United States.

Among the serving soldiers were troops from the Army Reserve’s Vancouver-based 104th Division Institutional Training, which has deployed about 1,200 soldiers to the war zones since the Iraq invasion, about 300 of whom are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers of the 104th hail from many different states.

Dozens are from Southwest Washington.

“Some have been deployed more than once,” said Maj. Daniel Herrigstad, the division’s public affairs officer. “And we currently have about 200 deployed elsewhere around the United States, mostly for basic training.”

Also serving are soldiers in the six other Vancouver-based military units: the Army Reserve’s 70th Regional Readiness Command, 396th Combat Support Hospital and 915th Forward Surgical Support Team and the Washington Army National Guard’s 146th Artillery Regiment, 791st Chemical Co. and 81st Brigade Combat Team. Several Clark County troops also went to war with the Army Reserve’s Portland-based 671st Combat Engineers.

In addition to the many soldiers who have come home safely, some have been horrifically injured, including Sgt. Brian Radke, who is still undergoing treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after being caught in an exploding Humvee near Camp Victory in Baghdad in 2005. Maj. Bryan Jones, who suffered massive brain injuries when his parachute failed to deploy properly during training in Louisiana in 2004, is in a care home.

Spc. Christopher Partridge came home suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and ended up in jail in September after shooting at a woman who cut off his car in traffic.

Dozens of other soldiers are working through post-combat stress issues at the Vancouver Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The government says more than 29,320 soldiers have been wounded in action in Iraq, while more than 31,325 others have been treated for noncombat injuries and illness.

Dean Baker writes about military affairs. Reach him at 360-735-4511 or dean.baker@columbian.com.