Fallen

[frogcycle]

just updated website - 72 so far this month

Fallen

[helderheid]

1. K & R

[Change has come]

2. k&R

[Solly Mack]

3. I'd curse but what good would it do

k/r

[roody]

4. What a euphemism. They are DEAD.

[TomInTib]

5. Yeah, I have never cared for that "fallen" business.

Like they could just bounce back up and keep playing "soldier" like a bunch of kids.

I spent a lot of time in combat and "dead" is fucking Dead.

"Fallen" is a soft word best left to the media and not to reality.

[11 Bravo]

6. Yuo, I saw too many guys get lit up in the A Shau.

None of them got "fallen". They got fucking killed, waxed, greased, or all fucked up.

[frogcycle]

7. Interesting

I agree. When I first started the website I felt the same way about the Washington post site "Faces of the Fallen" and struggled with how to identify mine. I wanted to just use "Killed in Action" but there are some from natural causes, some suicides, etc. "Casualties" is also a euphemism, and it includes both killed and wounded so would be inappropriate. "Dead from Bush's War" is how I think of it. I caved in and used "fallen" because it is in common use on many other such sites, and I did not want to turn the site into something that could be perceived as "using" them to make a statement. There are sites with pictures of bush with blood on his hands and shit like that. I don't disagree with their point; I just don't want to disrespect these people and their families by taking advantage of their stories and images to drive an agenda. I think the message is self-evident.

Maybe "Iraq/Afghanistan War Dead" would be better.

Comments?


edit: no comments - I went ahead and changed it. URL is the same, but the title is different.

And of course the link can be named whatever, so:

Tribute

[roody]

8. Iraq/Afghanistn war dead is more clear.

Then you would have to include the 100s of thousands of others.

[frogcycle]

9. yeah, unfortunately

most of those will ever remain nameless and faceless except to those who knew them. Pretty much like the Holocaust.

edit:
And I'm not adding a qualifier like "US Military" to clarify exclusion of all the "coalition" dead and contractor dead. it is what it is

damn what a despicable business

[K8-EEE]

10. THE SURGE IS WORKING...CAUSING A SURGE OF DEATH....

There were only half as many killed troops last March, you see how well the SURGE is working???

OMG.....how much more. Bush is a damned war criminal.

[frogcycle]

11. yes, for various reasons

the feb-april timeframe has seen a significant dip each year until now. Last March was only 31, Mar 2005 36, and 2004 50, but preceded by a feb of only 20. We're looking at a projection of 99 this month, on top of 80 last month.

The average for previous six months looks to be 97/month at the end of March. It was 93 at end of Feb, an all-time high. It's been climbing steadily since August.

[frogcycle]

14. now 77

AP news releases says:

"Sunday's deaths raise to at least 3,239 the members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003 _ 114 of those since the security operation started on Feb. 14, according to an Associated Press count. In comparison, 123 U.S. troops deaths were reported in the 40 days preceding the start of the plan."

- I suppose trying to say fatalities are decreasing(?)

Of course it overlooks that the earlier 40 days included three helicopter crashes, one with eleven fatalities - 25 fatalities on Jan 25 alone. And that this Feb was 80 vs 54 last Feb; this Jan 83 vs 61 last year. And that there has been a significant feb/march drop in fatalities each year until this, where the aggregate rate per month over the previous six months has been increasing steadily since last July. This Jan it tied the previous high from Jan '05, and has been increasing since. In short: the fatalities over the past six months exceed those in any previous six month period by about 8 fatalities/month, and the six months ending this march 31 looks to exceed that of the previous year by about 22/month

Just proves the saying "figures don't lie, but liars can figure"

[michaz]

12. Unfortunately I can put a name and address to one of those "not yet identified"

His name is Henry Bogrette and he was a student for 2 years of my husband at his school in Junior High. He was a lovely, caring and thoughtful guy and this just makes us so sick. A kid with a great future and now, nothing. Link www.wwnytv.net

[frogcycle]

13. Thanks

I updated. Don't know which of the two unidentifed from the 21st he is, but I'll correct when I find out where it occurred.

It never stops affecting me to get the names, see the faces, read the stories...
I follow from the initial DoD "anonymous" press release thru the release of information, local stories, follow-up articles. Sometimes it takes several weeks to find a picture; sometimes I never do.

It is ALWAYS a punch to the gut to see the name, and again to see the face. They change from numbers to people. I read the articles, watch videos like this one, and think "all Americans should read this, see this. This man/woman deserves a place on the national Page One. It is just not right for only the local folks to feel this pain."

So I keep updating my website. And sometimes I talk to them.

The lack of national coverage of the stories is criminal. They show pictures once a week on some newscasts. Don't even read the names aloud. It is minimalist tokenism. The lack of coverage of caskets arriving at Dover is criminal. It would NOT be disrespectful to publicize it - it would help the nation as a whole to understand and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for what we are perpetrating.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

15. .

:argh: :cry: