http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/032604E.shtml

this is actually pretty sad. well, maybe messed up is a better term.

 

omg, look how young they all are :sad:

 

it seems to me that most those casualties are a result of their own error, or something not related to enemy fire or combat. :dunno:

 

"A specialist is fatally shot in the chest by another soldier cleaning his gun."
"A lance corporal is killed in Kuwait when his Hummer hits a parked trailer."
"Two chief warrant officers and a corporal are killed when their Black Hawk air medical helicopter snags a power line and crashes into the Tigris River while on a rescue mission."
"A corporal is killed when a large transport truck in which he's riding rolls over. "
"A specialist is killed when his vehicle rolls over en route to a civilian call."
" sergeant is killed when he falls off a ladder and his M-4 rifle accidentally discharges. "


etc...

 

notice how he said "major"

 

You do realize that....

1) All servicemembers entering the military realize the risks involved - if they don't they realize it really fast.
2) If we pulled out now - things would go to hell, and then the liberals would bitch that we pulled out. Any civilized life would be gone in a matter of days or optimistically - weeks
3) There are training accidents over here all the time, many of those non-combat deaths are just as likely to happen here. I can't remember exact numbers, but somewhere around 300 or so training accidnet deaths occur each year - even in peactime

"U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq note that everything from their own convoy security to contractor support to basic equipment—from socks to body armor and, as The Wall Street Journal showed last week, vehicles—has been lacking."

This is true. Due to military budget cuts, which libererals always are in favor for, the military in general is understaffed and overworked, and under supplied

"Military reformers wonder if the fact that young officers are being promoted faster—but with less training than ever—might be a factor in the number of post-Saddam deaths. "



Don't know where thats coming from - but

2nd Lt --> 1st Lt = 2 years
1st Lt --> Captain = 2 more years
Captain --> Major - 8 more years - minimum
Major--> Lt Col = 4-10 years

most officers won't make it past major

all in all, while its nifty the article is memorist, it is a very ignorant article, ignoring fact of life and fact of the military life, political and economic situations in the world and the well being for others.

 

A private first class chokes on a piece of candy and drowns in a swimming pool during rec time.
[Charles M. Sims, 18, Miami FL]

 

A specialist medic dies of cancer.
[Tamarra J. Ramos, 24, Quakertown PA]


dang, thats crazy young for cancer...

 

my uncle died when he was 24 from Leukemia...

nothing is surprising anymore...sad, but not surprising.

 

Rather than turn this into a messy war is gay vs liberals are gay - lets keep it as a memorial-ish thread to those who have given their lives - accidents and health issue and combat deaths alike.


http://www.tcfatlanta.org/Soldiers.html
-- FYI _ I get chills of pride everytime I watch the clip on the link.