In October, the daily
KIA rate of US forces in Iraq was 3.19. In November, it is up to 3.5 per day. That's seven killed every two days. In September, it was a "good" 1.74 per day. And that's just US mostly US troops.
And as horrible as those numbers look, it's important to remember that each one of those numbers is a real person, and each one represents a real family destroyed. Like the following two examples.
Christopher Monroe
Beneath an overcast sky at Highland Park Cemetery in Fort Wayne, the adjoining woods echoed the shots fired during a 21-gun salute and the mournful notes of taps. Members of the 384th Military Police Battalion served as pallbearers and participated in the honor guard and rifle detail. Flags were presented to Annette Monroe, Perry Monroe II, Monroe's father, and Angela Rippe, Monroe's fiancé.
For Beaty, the most emotional part of the service was when Annette Monroe said her last goodbye to her son, leaving him to the guards who watched over his casket.
"As she walked by the casket she said, `I love you, my son,'" Beaty said.
Rick Pummill
Pummill joined the Marines after graduating from high school in 1996. After the war began, he gave up his Marine recruiting job so he could fight in Iraq.
His wife, Chantel, lives near Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he had been based. He leaves a 3-year-old son, Donald Richard "Cliff" Pummill, who lives with Pummill's first wife in Norfolk, Va.
During visitation Wednesday, photos from Pummill's life flashed on a TV screen. His best friend, John Morgan Jr., downloaded the photos onto a CD.
"He was a fun guy," said Matt Fugate, a friend who lives in Lexington, Ky. "But he was a Marine through and through. That was his calling."
This parade of shattered lives needs to end.