All gave some. Some gave all.
May. 31st, 2004 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1[Updated to fix table formatting. -Jim]
Today is Memorial Day in the US. It's supposed to be a day to remember the war dead. (But I thought that's what Veterans' Day was for.) As much as I dislike war -- and face it, what soldier actually wants to go to war? -- it's a day for me to remember and say "Thank you" to those who paid for my freedom with their blood and bodies, so that I and those like me could live in relative freedom.
In my family, it was also the day to visit my grandparents. My father called it "Decoration Day". We'd go to the cemeteries to visit the grave sites of both sets of grandparents, to plant flowers, to cut weeds, and do some minor lawn care. All 4 of my grandparents died before my sister and I were born, so we never got to meet them in life. My father's parents are buried side-by-side at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Cheektowaga NY; my mother's parents are buried in separate plots at St. Stanislaus Cemetery, also in Cheektowaga. The cemeteries are about 1-2 miles apart from each other; the Kensington Expressway (NY route 33) somewhat divides them.
From the World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2004 Edition, here are the US war dead totals (battle deaths and other deaths) for wars from the Revolutionary War to the current war in Iraq.
Here are the current casualty totals for all nations for the Iraq War.
Today is Memorial Day in the US. It's supposed to be a day to remember the war dead. (But I thought that's what Veterans' Day was for.) As much as I dislike war -- and face it, what soldier actually wants to go to war? -- it's a day for me to remember and say "Thank you" to those who paid for my freedom with their blood and bodies, so that I and those like me could live in relative freedom.
In my family, it was also the day to visit my grandparents. My father called it "Decoration Day". We'd go to the cemeteries to visit the grave sites of both sets of grandparents, to plant flowers, to cut weeds, and do some minor lawn care. All 4 of my grandparents died before my sister and I were born, so we never got to meet them in life. My father's parents are buried side-by-side at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Cheektowaga NY; my mother's parents are buried in separate plots at St. Stanislaus Cemetery, also in Cheektowaga. The cemeteries are about 1-2 miles apart from each other; the Kensington Expressway (NY route 33) somewhat divides them.
From the World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2004 Edition, here are the US war dead totals (battle deaths and other deaths) for wars from the Revolutionary War to the current war in Iraq.
| War | Total KIA |
|---|---|
| Revolutionary War | 4,435 |
| War of 1812 | 2,260 |
| Mexican War | 13,283 |
| Civil War (Union) | 364,512 |
| Civil War (Confederate) | 133,821 |
| Spanish-American War | 2,446 |
| World War I | 116,708 |
| World War II | 407,316 |
| Korean War | 36,916 |
| Vietnam War | 58,193 |
| Persian Gulf War | 299 |
| Iraq War (as of 5/31/04) | 814 |
Here are the current casualty totals for all nations for the Iraq War.
You cannot see the battle for what it is. We are fighting to save one another. We must realize we are not alone. We rise and fall together. And some of us must be sacrificed if all are to be saved.
-- Ambassador Kosh (speaking as G'Kar's father), BABYLON 5
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Date: 2004-05-31 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-31 09:36 pm (UTC)