Remembering Their Sacrifice!

By Findalis
Monkey in the Middle

On other National holidays the nation takes to the streets in joyous celebration.  On Memorial Day we are to take time to remember and mourn those men and women who gave their lives for this country.  So many did over the years.

War	Dead	Wounded
Revolutionary	25,000	25,000
1812	20,000	4,505
Mexican-American	13,283	4,152
Civil	624,511	281,881
Spanish-American	2,446	1,622
Philippine-American	4,196	2,930
World War 1	116,516	204,002
World War 2	405,399	670,846
Korea	36,516	92,134
Vietnam	58,209	153,303
Gulf	258	849
Afghanistan	1,803	31,965
Iraq	4,477	41,936
Totals	1,312,614	1,515,125

We should pause and remember them.  But instead most Americans will go to sales in malls, go to the beach and have cook outs.

The sacrifice these men gave entitles these Americans to do that.  It is our Freedoms and the Freedom of the world that they sacrificed their lives.  The liberation of Europe, not once but twice.  The liberation of Iraq from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and Afghanistan from the Taliban.  The Freedom of Cuba from Spain, the Philippines, the Battle of New Orleans and Brooklyn Heights.  They sacrificed at Shiloh, and Gettysburg.  The Wilderness and Fredricksberg.  And the nation they fought for survived and thrived.

To the families of those who have died:  Thank You.  There is no monetary settlement, no honors we can give you to heal the pain.