CNN is reporting that March was the second deadliest month for US forces in Iraq since major combat operations ended. The military lost 51 soldiers and staff workers during the month.

A total of 600 U.S. troops have died since the invasion of Iraq.

The toll would be even higher if it included the number of private military contractors killed. On Thursday the military released the names of three of the Blackwater USA employees who were brutally killed in Falujah on Wednesday. All three were military veterans.