On July 28, 2004, rolling along in a Humvee in Taji, Iraq, just north of Baghdad, Sgt. 1st Class Phillip "Vince" Jacques of the Oregon Army National Guard came close to joining the list of the dead.

On Tuesday, news services around the world tallied the 2,000th U.S. military death in Iraq. Forty-five of the fallen were from Oregon, according to Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office.

As the milestone was reached, extensive news reports prepared in advance were released for publication. Politicians for and against the war issued solemn statements. Anti-war activists called for demonstrations and vigils, one of which is set for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today at the Federal Building in downtown Eugene.

The "improvised explosive device" that destroyed Jacques' Humvee added one of his men, 20-year-old Pfc. Ken W. Leisten of Warrenton, to the list of the dead. It badly injured Jacques and 19-year-old Pfc. Benjamin Ring of Blodgett, west of Corvallis. The blast left Jacques with a concussion, wounds in both legs and a burn on his back, the latter from shrapnel stopped by body armor that saved his life, he said.

"I think of their families," he said of the list of 2,000. "But I also think of how proud I am to have known a few of those great men, men who are willing to lay down everything, men who did lay down everything."

Jacques and his colleagues of 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, routinely went in harm's way. As "grunts," or infantry, that was their job.

"We went out every day on patrol," he said. "Your job is to go out, close with and kill the enemy."

"It's not something you want," he said of the killing. "But it is your job."

Jacques, 34, works full time for the Guard, based in Salem but traveling the state. He lives in Albany with his wife and 3-year-old son and twins on the way. Originally from Brookings, he worked three years for the Guard in Eugene.

Although he is clearly proud of his service and his fellow soldiers, Jacques is a reluctant spokesman, agreeing to be interviewed only at the urging of Guard Capt. Mike Braibish.

"I've always respected humbleness," Jacques said. "I don't want to be held up as something special."

Part of Jacques' duty these days is to help combat-hardened troops accomplish what the military calls "reintegration," a graceful return to a mostly civilian life.

What would he say to people who gather at vigils to protest the war?

"That is something I think about every day," he said. "To the people holding the candles, I'd say - and I think most of the guys would say the same thing - I think, if we were not there, (the enemy) would be here. They don't want real estate. They don't want our natural resources. They want us dead."

By "they," Jacques is careful to add, he means the insurgents in Iraq, not the Iraqi people in general. "I did have Iraqi friends," he said.

He said he and the other soldiers he knows appreciate the support they get from civilians. And he's glad that even people who are against the Iraq War seldom hold individual GIs responsible for it, as often happened during the Vietnam War.

"That's never happened to me, and I don't know what I'd do, if I could take it," he said of some of the abuse experienced by soldiers returning from the war in Southeast Asia. "I don't know how the Vietnam veterans handled it."

Jacques said he realizes that many people think soldiers have been "brainwashed" and don't truly understand why they're fighting.

"Some people come up to me and say, `I support you, but I don't support the war.' You know, I appreciate that, but now my reply is, `I don't remember seeing you there.' If you haven't seen it firsthand, you're not qualified to judge it.

"There is a big picture to this whole thing, and I've seen it," he said.

Jacques can trace his family's military service back at least five generations. He is a Persian Gulf War veteran, and his younger brother, Ryan Jacques Howell, served in the same company in Iraq and was wounded twice.

As for the list of 2,000 U.S. deaths, he said he doesn't know which place on it is held by Ken Leisten, the young Oregonian mortally injured with him that day in Taji. But he does know what place Leisten holds in his memory.

"He was just an amazing young man," Jacques said, noting that his platoon's radios seldom worked right until he put Leisten in charge of them.

"He was just getting started with his life. He was smart, calm, coolheaded. He did a fantastic job for me. He was just a really outstanding soldier, and I miss him. I'm proud of him, and I miss him."

WEB SITES AND EVENTS

Here are three Web sites with information on the war deaths in Iraq:

Fallen Warriors, a U.S. Defense Department site: www.defendamerica.mil /fallen.html

Oregon's Most Honorable, a site posted by the office of Gov. Ted Kulongoski: governor.oregon.gov/Gov /soldier/ soldier_oregons_ most_honorable.shtml

Iraq Body Count, a private organization's tally of Iraqi war dead: www.iraqbody count.net

Here is a list of events planned today in response to the death of the 2,000th American soldier in Iraq:

Bandon: Vigil, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Intersection of Highways 101 and 42

Eugene: Candlelight Vigil, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Federal Building at Seventh and Pearl streets; organized by Move On, the American Friends Service Committee and others

Florence: Demonstration, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Intersection of Highways 101 and 126

Newport: Demonstration, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Intersection of Highways 101 and 20

Reedsport: Demonstration, dusk, Intersection of Highways 101 and 38

Waldport: Commemoration, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Veterans' Park

Yachats: Film, "The Oil Factor," 7 p.m., Yachats Commons

Oregon: A soldier who was wounded in Iraq sees the war's big picture

WEB SITES AND EVENTS
Here are three Web sites with information on the war deaths in Iraq:
Fallen Warriors, a U.S. Defense Department site: www.defendamerica.mil /fallen.html
Oregon's Most Honorable, a site posted by the office of Gov. Ted Kulongoski: governor.oregon.gov/Gov /soldier/ soldier_oregons_ most_honorable.shtml
Iraq Body Count, a private organization's tally of Iraqi war dead: www.iraqbody count.net
Here is a list of events planned today in response to the death of the 2,000th American soldier in Iraq:
Bandon: Vigil, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Intersection of Highways 101 and 42
Eugene: Candlelight Vigil, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Federal Building at Seventh and Pearl streets; organized by Move On, the American Friends Service Committee and others
Florence: Demonstration, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Intersection of Highways 101 and 126
Newport: Demonstration, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Intersection of Highways 101 and 20
Reedsport: Demonstration, dusk, Intersection of Highways 101 and 38
Waldport: Commemoration, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Veterans' Park
Yachats: Film, "The Oil Factor," 7 p.m., Yachats Commons