Rising death toll in Iraq complicates Arlington Ladies' tradition

[donsu]

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=e486d0e1-4ec4-49b6-a0b0-d0a8a2917293


'Every Person Was A Hero To Someone'


On a winter day when the rows and rows of white headstones were shrouded in a band of low-lying mist at Arlington National Cemetery, Jane Newman took her place in the white-gloved military honor guard. As the ashes of the latest fallen soldier arrived, she placed her hand over her heart in the civilian salute.

She didn't know this soldier or the family that shuffled behind his urn, shoulders stooped in grief. As usual, she knew only his name, Keith Fiscus. His age, 26. His years of service in the Army, four, and the names of his next of kin. Yet when she went through the paperwork that morning, she felt a pang. He was one more soldier killed in Iraq.

When she was invited five years ago to become an Army Arlington Lady, Newman, the wife of a 30-year Army artillery officer and herself a retired Army nurse, was drawn to the group's mission: that no soldier is ever buried alone. Every fourth Tuesday of the month, she spends the day at Arlington, standing graveside, hand over heart, at up to six funerals a day.

When she started, most of the soldiers she was burying were World War II veterans or soldiers who had lived long lives. Handing a condolence card on behalf of the Army chief of staff and saying a few kind words from the “Army family” to a grieving widow was never easy. But these days, as the death toll from the Iraq war has topped 3,000 and many of the buried are young soldiers, Newman and other Arlington Ladies are finding it difficult to do their solemn duty. Some have asked to be excused.

-long snip that will have you tear full and angry-

As the family of Keith Fiscus remained at the columbarium to mourn in private, Newman and her escort returned to the administrative building to warm up. “She was so upset,” Newman said of Fiscus' mother. “It's a son. And you're not supposed to bury your children.”

Later that day, the Defense Department announced that another soldier had died in Iraq
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[liberal N proud]

1. And no one in the bu$h regime will shed a tear for any one of them

:cry:

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. Except when there's a photo-op. n/t

[babylonsister]

2. Thank you. Until just now, I didn't know Arlington Ladies existed. nt