Home of the Free - Because of the Brave

As of this morning there have been 4,810 brave men and women killed during Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. Over 3,000 were killed in action. Over 30,000 have been wounded.

The numbers are staggering, at least to me. To think that almost 5,000 families are out there today, missing someone - a dad, a father, a sister, a brother, a mom...Yet, compared to other wars - so many more are coming home that might not have before. The medical facilities both in the field and here at home have helped bring people home to their families, wounded but alive.

In Vietnam, almost 59,000 service members died and over 300,000 were wounded (for the years 1959-1975). The country still carries the scars from that "war" - one wonders what effect the current "long war" will have on the country.

In WWII, the United States lost over 418,000. 418,000! Who can even fathom that? Was there a single city or town that was left unscathed by the losses? Then I look at the numbers for countries like Poland and the Soviet Union - countries that lost 16% and almost 14% of their entire population. Germany itself lost over 10% of its population. Not only did those countries lose so many men, they often had to rebuild whole towns/cities from scratch...

We Americans are lucky in a way...when you compare the number of wars and battles fought on home soil - the United States can not come close to what Europe and the Middle Wast have gone through. Whether that is due to our location in the world or the foreign policies of our presidents, we are lucky. Though that luck hasn't kept us from being involved around the world and losing good men and women.

One of my favorite sayings, which I first saw a few years ago, is "America - Home of the Free, Because of the Brave." Thank God for those men and women who make an oath to protect us, our country and our freedoms. You are not forgotten.