Andres Nuiamäe (2 June 1982 in

Lehtse Lehtse is a small borough (') in Tapa Parish, Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland ac ...

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Viru County ( et, Lääne-Viru maakond or ''Lääne-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, ''lääne'' means western and ''ida'' means east or easter ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

– 28 February 2004 in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

) was a

Junior Sergeant A junior sergeant is a military rank used in the armed forces of many countries. It is usually placed below sergeant. Russia Junior sergeant (russian: Младший сержант, Mladshy serzhant) is the designation to the lowest rank in the ...

of the

Ground Forces An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, assigned to the ESTPLA-8 unit in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

Biography

Andres Nuiamäe was 21 years when he was killed, while fighting with coalition forces in Baghdad, in the line of duty by an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...

at 20:55 local time. He holds the distinction of being the first Estonian soldier serving in an independent

Estonian army The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...

to be killed in combat since 1920, and the first Estonian soldier to be killed in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

. Nuiamäe's death shocked the population of Estonia and sparked a debate amongst the country's citizens on whether Estonia should continue to keep troops stationed in Iraq. However, the Estonian government held firm in its stance to remain part of the "

Coalition of the Willing The term ''coalition of the willing'' refers to an international alliance focused on achieving a particular objective, usually of military or political nature. Usage *One early use was by President Bill Clinton in June 1994 in relation to possib ...

". In a prepared statement released shortly after Andres Nuiamäe's death, Estonian Prime Minister

Juhan Parts Juhan Parts (born 27 August 1966) is an Estonian politician who was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2003 to 2005 and Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications from 2007 to 2014. Juhan Parts is a member of Isamaa party. Education Born in T ...

said: ''"This is an extremely painful reminder that the situation in Iraq has not yet stabilized and that joint efforts for peace by the coalition forces are well founded."'' Following Nuiamäe's funeral, the President of Estonia,

Arnold Rüütel Arnold Rüütel OIH () (born 10 May 1928) is an Estonian politician and agricultural scientist. He has served as the last chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 8 April 1983 to 29 March 1990, Chairman of the Su ...

, released the following statement on 29 February 2004: ''"I express profound sympathy and condolences to the family, loved ones and fellow servicemen of Andres Nuiamäe. The death of this brave young man in Iraq is an irretrievable loss to both his family and the whole of Estonia. At this sad moment, let us all think about duty, sense of responsibility, mission and the price of ensuring it. Estonia is mourning."'' On 26 October 2004, Estonia suffered its second Iraqi War casualty when 28-year-old First Sergeant Arre Illenzeer was similarly killed by explosives.

References

MSN News itemThe Iraq PagePostimees news item

United States Embassy Press Release

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuiamae, Andres 1982 births 2004 deaths People from Tapa Parish Estonian military personnel killed in action Military personnel killed in action in the Iraq War