Land of Oz

Dying Young

Here's the kind of thing that really pisses me off. Purely by accident I can across Army Pfc. Leslie D. Jackson. I know nothing about her. She has the dubious distinction of being the youngest GI to die so far in Iraq. She was murdered by some faceless terrorist triggering a bomb on a roadside. Actually there are 13 others listed who are also 18 years young. This particular Web site lists an additional 788 who had the misfortune to die for their country. As of this writing that's 802 dead GIs. Who knows how many wounded should be added to that number. There seems to be a pretty strong attempt to keep the number of wounded faceless. I've seen numbers of evacuated casualties from Iraq that are up in the several thousands. Makes you wonder how many missing eyes, legs, arms and other parts those total up to.

Many people see this as some kind of noble sacrifice for your country. Noble? It's some poor kid who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A sacrifice to be sure, but why? I don't understand why people keep killing people. In Iraq they do it for some dusty strip of road with the idea of us versus them. In Saginaw it's over some stupid song in a nightclub. Where is the nobility in either place?

Don't get me wrong, I greatly admire those poor kids whose life in on the line in defense of our country. I can't quite say the same of those not so poor leaders who put the kids on the line. Here's a quote from one of the dedications to Pfc. Jackson. I can only hope the person's problem is with English and not thinking.

"Thank you for sacrificing your life for our great country. People like you are the reason people like me live in freedom and comfort. Our country is never thankful enough to people like yourself who go the extra mile and do what is right in..."

"Thank you for sacrificing your life ..."?? That just sounds wrong.

2fers:Fallen Heroesand How They Get There