David Hickman, 23, of Greensboro, N.C., was the last U.S. casualty in Iraq when he died in November, reports the Associated Press. Hickman was killed by an improvised bomb, which was a trademark weapon of the Iraq war. On Nov. 14 he was driving his armored tank through the streets of Baghdad when it hit a roadside bomb.
Hickman is the 4,474th member of the U.S. military to die in the war lasting from 2003 to 2011, according to The Washington Post. The average age of those who died in Iraq was 26. A number of young U.S. soldiers were also the last to die in other major conflicts of war.
Darwin L. Judge and Charles McMahon -- Vietnam War
Judge was 19 and McMahon, 21, when they became the last U.S. soldiers killed in action on April 29, 1975, during the last remaining days of the Vietnam War, states CNN. Only a few Americans remained in Vietnam after the U.S. withdrawal in 1973. Judge and McMahon were Marine guards at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. An enemy rocket made a direct hit at the checkpoint they were guarding.
Harold B. Smith -- Korean War
Pfc Smith, 21, from Illinois tripped on a land mine during the last day of the Korean conflict on July 27, 1953, according to VFW Magazine. It was only 16 minutes till the cease-fire would take place. He was taken to a hospital ship anchored at Inchon Harbor near Seoul where he died on July 28.
Anthony J. Marchione -- World War II
Air & Space magazine reports Army Sgt. Anthony Marchione, 19, was the last to die in combat during World War II on Aug. 18, 1945, above Tokyo. This resulted from a surprise air attack by the Japanese. The Pottstown, Pa., airman was one month short of his 20th birthday. His death came after the Japanese agreed to the terms of surrender set forth by the Allies.
Henry N. Gunther -- World War I
Gunther was a German-American in his mid-twenties who was busted from sergeant to private for writing his scathing feelings on the war. In the last remaining minutes, even though the armistice had been signed, no orders came for the soldiers to stop fighting in the interim until 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918. Gunther charged through the fog where Germans fired five rounds from their machine guns at 10:59 a.m., states MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History.
