Graphic by Doc


FORT STEWART MEMORIAL SAYS "NO" TO IRAQ VET WHO DIED

OF INFECTION STATESIDE -- "Unless you're shot or blown up,

you don't get a tree. It is a major, major slap in the face."

See Story here:http://vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfNOV07/nf112607-1.htm


To some this may appear to be a new story, something that has just happened to this young man and his family, but this story is not new, nor is this family the first to fight for some official form of remembrance of a loved one. This young man is not the first to lose his life after serving in a combat zone as a result of that service but not as a direct result of enemy action. After every war there are those who die from either wounds or illness who are all but forgotten as having been one to give their life for their country.

Since I am a Vietnam veteran, I will use the Vietnam war to illustrate my point, although this is not something that is specific to Vietnam as it happens in all wars. After the erection of the Vietnam Memorial Wall there were those who questioned the names appearing on the wall and wondering why their loved one's name did not appear as they died as a result of wounds incurred in Vietnam but after returning home and being discharged from military service. They received the same reply from military sources as the family of this young soldier of Iraq received, they did not die as a result of hostile actions, i.e. on the battle field or in the military hospital immediately after receiving wound. There have been countless soldiers, men and women, who have died as a result of their military service, in war time, who did not receive any official remembrance for their sacrifice. The sad thing is that there will be more to follow these all but forgotten warriors.

We have thousands of warriors today from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and all the other smaller, less heard of, conflicts around the world who suffer from PTSD, or some other illness or physical wound, and some of them will die, perhaps at their own hand, perhaps in other ways related to their PTSD symptoms, illness or wound, who will not be counted as causalities of war. These warriors, I have for years called the MIA's IN The USA, the forgotten ones.

When we read the newspapers, hear the news reports on TV or radio about the cost of war in the number of lives lost little do we consider that these reports are only the very tip of the iceberg, only those who die as the result of direct combat operations or accidents while on missions on, perhaps, in training now days. No thought is given to the countless thousands who will ultimately lose their lives as a result of their combat experiences. They are for all intents and purposes forgotten. Thus, the American public never get a full accounting of the true cost of war, the price of freedom.