FlyerJosh

A good article, IMHO. Thanks to all that are currently or have served in the past. ~FJ, Sgt, NDARNG - 1996 -2005



By LIEUT. SEAN WALSH
Wed Mar 26, 2:20 PM ET
Time Magazine

The passing of the 4,000th service member in Iraq is a tragic milestone and a testament to the cost of this war, but for those of us who live and fight in Iraq, we measure that cost in smaller, but much more personal numbers. For me those numbers are 8, the number of friends and classmates killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 3, the number of soldiers from my unit killed in this deployment. I'm 25, yet I've received more notifications for funerals than invitations to weddings.

The number 4,000 is too great to grasp even for us that are here in Iraq. When we soldiers read the newspaper, the latest AP casualty figures are glanced over with the same casual interest as a box score for a sport you don't follow. I am certain that I am not alone when I open up the Stars and Stripes, the military's daily paper, and immediately search for the section with the names of the fallen to see if they include anyone I know. While in a combat outpost in southwest Baghdad, it was in that distinctive bold Ariel print in a two-week-old copy of the Stars and Stripes that I read that my best friend had been killed in Afghanistan. No phone call from a mutual friend or a visit to his family. All that had come and gone by the time I had learned about his death. I sometimes wonder, if I hadn't picked up that paper, how much longer I would have gone by without knowing - perhaps another day, perhaps a week or longer until I could find the time and the means to check my e-mail to find my messages unanswered and a death notification from a West Point distro list in my inbox. The dead in Afghanistan don't seem to inspire the keeping of lists the same way that those in Iraq do, but even if they did it wouldn't matter; he could only be number 7 to me.

I'm not asking for pity, only understanding for the cost of this war. We did, after all, volunteer for the Army and that is the key distinction between this army and the army of the Vietnam War. But even as I ask for that understanding I'm almost certain that you won't be able to obtain it. Even Shakespeare, with his now overused notion of soldiers as a "band of brothers" fails to capture the bonds, the sense of responsibility to each other, among soldiers. In many ways, Iraq has become my home (by the time my deployment ends I will have spent more time here than anywhere else in the army) and the soldiers I share that home with have become my family. Between working, eating and sleeping within a few feet of the same soldiers every single day, I doubt I am away from them for more than two hours a day. I'm engaged to the love of my life, but it will take several years of marriage before I've spent as much time with her as I have with the men I serve with today.

For the vast majority of American's who don't have a loved one overseas, the only number they have to attempt to grasp the Iraq War is 4,000. I would ask that when you see that number, try to remember that it is made up of over 1 million smaller numbers; that every one of the 1 million service members who have fought in Iraq has his or her own personal numbers. Over 1 million 8's and 3's. When you are evaluating the price of the war, weighing potential rewards versus cost in blood and treasure, I would ask you to consider what is worth the lives of three of your loved ones? Or eight? Or more? It would be a tragedy for my 8 and 3 to have died without us being able to complete our mission, but it maybe even more tragic for 8 and 3 to become anything higher.

11Fan

May God bless their memory and may he bless their families as well.

Thanks from a grateful Nation. I'll always be proud of you.

Squad Leader
L Troop
3rd Squadron
2nd Armored Calvary
1973-1976

atpwannabe

[QUOTE=11Fan;349174]May God bless their memory and may he bless their families as well.

Thanks from a grateful Nation. I'll always be proud of you.

Ditto.

Fort Story, VA
368th Transportation Company
Platoon: Ship II
3rd Squad
Specialist
ETS'd - 9/11/92



atp

supersix-4

" I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom." Abraham Lincoln

dannolars

What an awesome story. Having been there often, I can tell you the Army and Marines are taking the brunt of it and doing an awesome job. Keep the faith.

Zapata

That's a great quote and all but, the lives sacrificed in Iraq has nothing to do with the altar of freedom.
I am not doubting the dedication and intent of our fallen soldiers but, our occupation of Iraq has nothing to do with our freedom. Bush just wants us to think that.

11Fan

Thanks for your commentary.

Go finish your chicken. Try not to choke on a bone.

EvilGN

just a thought....if we never went to iraq, what are the chances saddam would have successfully been able to pull of an attack on our soil since 9-11?
Politically, I realize the ramifications of the war, and do not wish to debate that, but for one to look at the 4000 as a waste....I can only say you really have no idea what you are talking about...the Global War on Terror is real, and our involvement is vital, if want to blame someone for the 4000 deaths, you have to blame binladen and his gang...if they hadn't done what they did.........need I say more?

And for those that like statistics, look up how many murders have taken place in the past 5 years in houston, detroit, DC, Philly, Balt, and Chicago...which one is higher? And that is just 6 cities.
For the media to play up the death rate in Iraq is irresponsible, all it does is breed discontent from the general public who has no clue whats going in the world, and has no clue what our military is doing to PROTECT their way of life (as they think they are entitled to)
This country has a small 200+ years of history and several "life" changing events in that time, history will show that we are in the middle of one of them.
Non PROACTION on our part after 9-11 IMO would lead to a U.S.A that is worse off in the future than it will be. People need to open their eyes and think globally, just as much as our haliburtons are trying to maximize their profits at the expense of the citizen, what do you think Chavez is doing? oh and BTW, do you buy Citgo gas? even if you don't actually go to the Citgo station, do you know where the molecule of gas you put in your take originated? I bet you don't and I bet you don't want to know where it came from....

ARG!!!! this rant ended up being political....

regardless, honor those that have fallen for our freedom and leave it at that......PLEASE


EDIT: And one more note for those who breed hate and discontent...anyone born an American citizen had about a 1 in 20 chance of doing so. (going by old numbers of 250 million out of 5 billion) Thats a 5% chance of being born a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of this planet. Please think about that a second the next time you complain about ANYTHING! How bad is your life in comparison to the other 19 people born the moment you were?

socal swede

No one seems be bothered that we have had troops in Germany and S Korea for 40-50 years and in other places, yet 5 years in Iraq is such a big deal to everyone.

Conflicts take time, the progress we have had is faster than anywhere else in history. Why is everyone so much in a hurry to get out of there. 4000 is sad but all in all a small price to pay if we can pull off making the middle east more democratic over time,,2 down many more to go. The threat of the Islamo fascists is really much bigget than most seem to understand and far better to have the conflict there than here.

Godspeed to our brave troops and pray our leaders do the best they can to give them all the support they need to finish the job they are doing there and everywhere.

newKnow

Not to get political because I know this post wil be taken down soon.....

But for everything you just said, what about the real war that China has already won because of our war in Iraq?

This thing in Iraq is being financed by China, not matter how you look at it.
Now as a result:
- They need no bombs
- They need no troops
- They need no navy

All they have to do is call in their "marker" and say "pay me my money!" and this (the U.S) economy would crumble. So, at the very least you coud say that as a result of this war China has us by the....

I know this thread won't last long, but...

How many U.S troops were killed in Gernamy and/or Japan after the war was over?


Our troops are a buffer between two groups that have been fighting for thousands of years....


This ain't no war....