Commentary: It’s never just a number - KIA in Iraq

[moroni]

This is an experience that is not something you forget. You don't have to be in the military either. Police, Firemen, EMS....

I am one of many Blue Star parents. My daughter has had the privilege of witnessing the burial at sea of naval personel.
I too have helped bury military dead and assisted families with the loss of a member of the military... and my father before me.

We may not agree with it the way is was done, but we are in it none the less.



Commentary: It’s never just a number

By Richard M. Arndt
November 4, 2003

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Army News Service, Nov. 4, 2003) -- As the body count of U.S. service members killed in Iraq continues to climb, I fear the American public will begin to see those brave souls as mere numbers in a tragic tally.

News anchors introduce stories with phrases like, “As the number of American dead in Iraq continues to rise…”

The stories that air on the evening news seem remarkably similar … a rocket-propelled grenade here…a sniper’s bullet there. It all becomes familiar, expected after a while.

The families left behind, though, do not expect it. The young wife, who was looking forward to a lifetime together with her husband, does not expect it. Neither do the sons and daughters, who never really got a chance to know their dad. And the mother and father certainly never expect to outlive their child.

I know the families don’t expect it, because I once had the task of bringing a family the news. It wasn’t during the Iraq conflict. In fact, it wasn’t during any conflict at all. It was 1996, and I had the task of informing a couple that their son, an Army NCO, had been murdered.

I was an Army sergeant first class at the time, stationed at Fort Meade, Md. I came down on the detail roster for casualty notification duty just as all the other NCOs in the battalion did. I attended my two hours of training on Friday and went home for the weekend, never expecting to get the call.

The call came at 6 a.m. Saturday. I shook the sleep from my head as I showered and shaved, and I was already starting to get nervous as I donned my Class A’s. I’d never done this before. How was I going to face this family?

<snip> the best part of the story is there to read if you desire....



http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/print.php?story_id_key=5380

[tabasco]

1. A sad story and a reminder why true patriots detest war.

Thanks for posting this. During my military time, I was detailed a few times for the rifle squad at veteran funerals. That was sad, but I'm sure notifying family has to be extremely difficult.

[mw]

2. Great story. At least they died in Iraq for a good cause. No, wait

Actually, that's the sad part. They're dying in Iraq for George Bush's ego. That's all. Bush won't admit he was wrong, and if Bush won't admit he was wrong, the UN won't step in and relieve the pressure.

Rest assured, all who have suffered losses, that George W. Bush and all who harbor him and his dirty little war are going to roast in Traitors Hell for all eternity.

Plus a day.