Bringing the War Back Home

March 19th marked the seventh anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. We have been in Afghanistan for even longer than that. Sure, we have been distracted by many things: the health care debate, Sandra Bullock's marriage, etc., but we must remember that at this precise moment tens of thousands of soldiers are in harm's way and far too many of them do not come back home alive.

As of March 16th, 2010, according to a database compiled by the Washington Post, 4,369 U.S. men and women have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In Afghanistan's Operation Enduring Freedom, the number stands at 1,009. As these numbers grow, however, we must not reduce the memory of the fallen to mere statistics. We must remember that there are names, faces, and memories attached to every one of those numbers listed.

This week the New York Times ran a pictorial on their website titled "The Shrine Down the Hall". It is a solemn, heart-breaking reminder of the human cost of war and those left behind, told through simple black and white photographs. The photos are of the empty bedrooms of U.S. soldiers, some as young as nineteen, that lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I looked at each photo and studied the objects in the room: photos, posters, trophies, the assorted knick-knacks we've all collected at some point in our lives and I wondered about the lives of these young men and women, forever nineteen and twenty and far too young. I thought about the goals and dreams that they had. What it felt for them to answer the call of duty and join the Armed Forces. But I also wondered about the loved ones left behind and how they feel. The keepers of the memories of the fallen. Those who maintain the shrines down the hall. I know they have mourned, and I know that they must feel an immense level of pride for their sons and daughters.

I know that I do.

The Shrine Down the Hall:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/21/magazine/20100321-soliders-bedrooms-slideshow.html

Faces of the Fallen:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

Iraq War's 7th Anniversary Came and Went
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/21/ftn/main6319967.shtml