I watched Ted Koppel read the names of the dead last night

[CatWoman]

and I was struck by how many of them were Jr., II, and III.

Men named for their fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers.

And in one fell swoop, family traditions via namesakes came to an abrupt end.

All for nothing.

They died fighting *'s illegal war.

Can you imagine how these fathers must be feeling seeing their names die out so abruptly and cruelly?

I counted ONE soldier who was a Senior. His name will live on.

Small consolation.

[Renew Deal]

1. I was struck by how many were named Bush.

There were several.

[neebob]

6. I noticed that as well

and I only watched a few minutes of it. I also noticed a lot of them were in their forties, which surprised me. I would have guessed the vast majority were in their twenties.

Mostly, though, I just wondered why on earth anyone would have a problem with the showing of pictures and reading of names. What's the argument against it?

[Warpy]

7. The early part of the war

...killed a lot of career soldiers in their late 20s and early 30s. AS the war has dragged on and on, the dead are getting younger.

[bill grasso]

13. The older fallen..

My guess many of the dead in their 40's were probably reservists.. they tend to be older in grade.

As to the one's named Bush, I believe several were black.. that's so ironic: the ranks are filled by those with poor civilian employment prospects.

[wryter2000]

20. Welcome to DU, Bill

:hi:

[newyawker99]

24. Hi bill grasso!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[chatterboy]

29. "Nightline" A No-Show ...

... in Springfield, Missouri. The ABC affiliate, KSPR-TV (owned by Piedmont Television LLC) scrubbed the show in favor of a Branson-based show on the first anniversary of Sept. 11.

KSPR didn't announce its decision to cancel until late Friday. Say what you will about Sinclair, but at least it had the guts to pre-announce its boneheaded stance. KSPR chose the coward's route.

What else can we expect in the Land of Ashcroft?

http://homepage.mac.com/rondavis/iblog/index.html

[LiberalFighter]

31. But not the right one...

too cowardly to go to Vietnam and too cowardly to make up his time in Iraq

[trumad]

2. I was struck at how many Privates were killed..

Never mind...no I wasn't...par for the course in any war.

[maggrwaggr]

3. I tried to watch and had to turn away

It was just too much, I literally couldn't take it.

Horrible.

[Robbien]

5. It was overwhelming

I made it through the first commercial, but once they started back up I couldn't keep watching.

[maggrwaggr]

8. so many looked so damn happy in their photos

It was just awful to realize they were dead, killed by GWB

couldn't deal with it

[Pallas180]

4. Shocked at ages 18,20, 22 years old. And that a majority seemed

to in the US Marine Corps.

Kids who will never get a chance to live/experience any of life.
What a waste of potential.

[glarius]

9. Whenever I see the parents of a dead soldier say they are proud their

child died for his/her country, I think how sad it is that this is what they have to cling to...If the time comes when they realize their child died for nothing, it will be devastating for them...

[readmylips]

14. You hit right at a point that upsets me about parents....

Would they sacrafice their child at the alter, a pagan ritual, for the sake of power, wealth and racism? When I hear parents say 'my child died for for this country,' I yell back at the TV. Yeah, you child should have been in college...like the rich kids and not dead..you ignorant parent.

To see the faces and the ages of those 18 year olds, 19, 20, 21. They were kids, for God's sake. One photo had a soldier kissing his baby. That baby will never again be kissed that his daddy.

[glarius]

16. I know....their young faces make me cry....it's such a waste

and GEORGE BUSH COULDN'T CARE LESS!!! THE BASTARD

[riverwalker]

10. I made myself watch

and looked into the eyes of each beautiful, trusting young face. I could only say "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry". Although I was against the war from the beginning, I felt responsible somehow. That "my generation" failed them. We let it happen again, and we all swore after Vietnam we wouldn't.

[alarcojon]

11. We put together

an unprecedented effort to stop this war before it started. It is not our fault that Bush and company had their minds made up from the start.

[readmylips]

18. The War The World Failed to Stop....

Small man bush and his criminals held the world's power in their hands. They held the world hostage, much worse than Hitler.

We did our damnist to stop it. The media called us unpatriotic, and like sick psychopaths, the media pretty boys, laughed and joked with criminal bush.

[glarius]

19. They seem so proud when he calls one of them a "pet name"...disgusting

:puke:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. Funny thing is if there had been no controversy over this show

I doubt most people would have watched it. Here in LA, the local news segue'd into the show by reporting the controversy and making it look as though Bush himself didn't want you to watch.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. Well of course Bush himself didn't want you to watch.

But you'll have a hard time catching him saying that on TV.

You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it.
Ho Chi Minh

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. Every morning for the last month or so I have been going to CNN's

website and looking at the pictures...and then I look at my little boy and am grateful that he is just little...and more resolved than ever to fight this insanity that has taken so many already. It was a really moving segment.

[dmr]

35. I know what you mean

I use to take comfort in my son's age in case there was a war, but now, I'm scared to death because my little boy is now 15. A wonderful, intelligent and caring boy who has much to offer all of us. He aspires to study history and law and one day run for a Senate seat. My heart is full of love and ache. Damn, I'm making myself cry, I don't want Bush* to have him.

My heart aches for the loved ones left behind. Meanwhile, this same heart is full of hate for the power and money hungry chickenshithawks

[LDS Jock]

21. The picture that got me most

was the one of a soldier holding what I presume was his son or daughter. Just a baby in his arms, a baby which should have had the chance to grow up and know a father. I'm sure many of them had children but that picture was the one which brought home that idea for me. Very sad.

[SayitAintSo]

32. I saw that too .... made me choke up... n/t

[Tina H]

22. did you get any idea of:

what percentage of the casualties were women?

Shamefully, I didn't watch the Nightline. Should have.

[Kali]

23. don't have tv

but the opening of DU site (at least on my computer) has that arrogant bastard in one of his costumes then a listing of all the names. Affected me strongly. Have an 18 year old son graduating from high school this month........

[proud patriot]

25. That Struck me as Well

:-( It was very moving , I feel
I've Honored them by remembering them
and looking into their eyes .

[KittyWampus]

26. A Very Poignant Observation Catwoman

No soldier dies for nothing, though it's tempting to think that.

Their deaths contribute to the critical mass needed for public opinion to change.

[librechik]

27. The NewsHour on PBS has been doing this for months

at the end of the program. I haven't heard any controversy over it.

[CatWoman]

28. I suppose because NewsHour was doing it in small doses

you got the enormity last night.

Over 700 names read all at once.

[librechik]

38. exactly--like today's DU greeting page--it made me gasp

the list was so long!

[BootinUp]

30. I noticed the same thing

I don't think I have ever watched something like that before. It was a brilliant idea. Kudos to Koppel.

[jeffrey_X]

33. Not that it matters, but does any one know the breakdown....

of the race/ethnicity of the soldiers that have died?

My wife and I noticed a fairly larg percentage of african americans and hispanics. We were curious to know percent they made up of the overall number.

[CatWoman]

34. there were quite a few middle easterners too............

[mitchum]

36. May they rest in peace

[goclark]

37. God Bless Them

And all of this pain is for what-?
"To liberate the Iraqi people!" right:cry: