Today we honor those who died for our freedom
Today is a day we should set aside partisan politics and come together as a nation to honor those who died in war defending our freedom.
When we ask how many American soldiers have died in war it is a surprisingly hard question to answer. We can only estimate since we don’t have good numbers until World War I. The estimates as of 2015 are that 651,008 Americans have died in battles and another 1.2 million servicemen and women have died during service in wartime. Unfortunately, that number continues to grow. About 1 in 50 who served were killed according to figures compiled by the University of California at Santa Barbara
It is a small number of our population, but that small number has a huge impact on us all. They say it is a noble thing to give one’s life for the nation. It is said by those who didn’t give theirs.
When I lived in Washington, DC I used to visit the Vietnam Memorial on the National Mall at least once a month. Vietnam was my generation’s war. It left a wound on the Nation that will only be healed when my generation is no more. Vietnam had many lessons for America, but it appears we have forgotten many of the bitter lessons that were taught to us by the 58,307 names carved into the black marble monument on the National Mall.
