Often within hours of the death of a soldier from a European country, there is a huge amount of media coverage. Updated photos of the deceased are provided, as well as personal biographies, comments from the family and loved ones, and comments from Military commanders and comrades. Everything is very open, even in a time of extreme grief and suffering.
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| This is what we should be doing... |
When American soldiers are killed in the line of duty, there are often comments made on the Internet to the effect that "the family wants to be left alone in their time of grief". Sometimes photographs are never provided or are out of date and grainy.
Seldom are comments made by American Military officials who knew the deceased man or woman. They remain silent, as if speaking of the poor soul who died was an invasion of privacy.
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| This is what we really do... |
Obviously, the handling of grief is different in diverse cultures and Americans handle grief more privately than do Europeans.
However, everyone who is killed in these wars deserves a presence outside of their family circle and outside of those that knew them personally.
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| Who were they? |
We can never end war and reinforce the consequences of war, unless we shove directly into the face of society - the name, the photograph and the history of every man or woman killed in the line of military duty. They are human beings. They have souls. They are not numbers on a list.
In the Vietnam era, and before the establishment of the Internet, 58,000 American men and women died and no one outside of their family and friends knew what they even looked like, unless you lived in their home town. No one knows who they were. They are names listed on a granite wall.
God help us. Amen.
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