Story 1

May 26, 2008

Observed Memorial Day

For The Sacrifices They Made,
We Remember Those Who Have Died For Us
They stood prepared to give their lives for us.
They lost many friends, some they did not even know their names,
They remembered their faces, they remembered how they died.
They died dirty...hungry, & exhausted...
They died thinking of their loved ones.
They would do anything for the person next to them,
They would lie down their life for that person.
These heroes are dead--but remembered,
They died for liberty--they died for us.
They sleep in the land they made free,
They are at rest--they are at peace.

U.S. Casualties of War

Revolutionary War (1775-1783): *25,000

War of 1812 (1812-1815): *20,000

Mexican-American War (1846-1848): 13,283

Civil War (1861-1865): total loss *618,000
    - Union *360,000
    - Confederate *258,000

Korean Expedition (1871): 3

Spanish-American War (1898): 2,446

Philippine War (1898-1902): 4,196

Occupation of Haiti (1915-1934): 146

World War I (1917-1918): 116,516

Nothern Russian Expedition (1918-1920): 424

World War II (1941-1945): 405,399

Cold War (1945-1990's): 61

Korean War (1950-1953): 36,516

Bay of Pigs (1961): 4

Vietnam War (1964-1973): 58,151

Beirut (1982-1984): 266

Grenada (1983): 19

Persian Gulf escorts (1987-1988): 39

Panama (1989): 40

Gulf War (1990-1991): 299

Somalia (1992-1993): 43

Haiti (1994-1995): 4

Bosnia-Herzegovina (1995-?): 12

Kosovo (1996-?): 2

War on Terror as of May 14, 2008: total loss 4,563
    - Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan 2001-present) as of May 14, 2008: 495
    - Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq 2003-present) as of May 14, 2008: 4,068

We must remember them.