This is the Memorial Day weekend and a time to spend some time thinking about and then thanking God for those citizens who “soldiered on”, despite any fears or misgivings they might have had, and then had paid with their lives.
Fact: Very few people join the military. Yet what is common among them is the fact that they resemble all of the rest of us. Just plain folks. And expecting to die was the last thing on their minds. Sure, they heard the arguments, both pro and con, for and against the war…but it didn’t matter. They were really too busy to give it much thought. And besides, what did it matter? They were just doing their job.
Some facts that make for thoughtful reading on this Memorial Day. These were printed in the Chico News and Review and were credited to the Los Angeles Times, the New York times, the Washington Post and Harper’s magazine.
The number of soldiers killed during the official 21 day war in Iraq: 115
The number of soldiers killed since the end of that official war: 1,527
Number of soldiers wounded in Iraq: 12,350
Number of soldiers seeking disability benefits for physical and/or psychological injury from the war in Iraq: 33,000
There are a lot more facts to read about this war…but I will save them for another day.
Wow, it is encouraging to hear how warfare has evolved to a point where the US Casulities are minimal compared to that of other wars. It is difficult to look at any numbers of war dead and "feel" good but if one can put away the emotion and look at the numbers objectively atleast recently wars involving America have been anything but that of other wars. Now if we could only end the need and desire for war, but that won't happen until Christ return.
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