Off-Topic: Moved by Tributes to War Dead

[Cpl Steiner]

Sorry to post here but I can't think of anywhere else and I wanted to share a moving experience I've just had.

Whilst Googling for info on OIF I found this site listing all US casualties in Iraq to date.

OIF Casualty List

Confronted by this list, with the actual names of the dead and the dates they were killed, I started scrolling down, reading names at random. After a while I realised that the vertical scroll-bar of my web browser had barely moved at all, the list was so long. This sudden realisation affected me emotionally and I had to hold back the tears.

Using the scroll-bar now to move more quickly through the list I started picking names at random and searching for info on them in Google. Every search came up with one or more web pages paying tribute to their tragic death. Many had photos of the funeral. Some had a map showing where they came from. The ages were the most saddening. Many were only 20 or 22 when they died. The nature of death was also very consistent: "road-side bomb"; "improvised bomb" etc. It was so sad to think of all these young lives lost to such crude devices, killed by an unseen enemy.

As it is Christmas tomorrow, I thought some of you might want to share this experience. Just look at the list and search for a few names at random in another browser window. It really makes you think about the tragic losses so many have endured in this war (no political point intended).

Here is just one entry I found, for a certain "Daniel Clay" (killed 1 December 2005).

Daniel Clay

[Speedy]

General Forum would be more appropriate I think.

[Cpl Steiner]

Mods,

By all means move this thread to the General Forum if this is more appropriate.