Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Never to forget the cost of war
"Next to the Humvee is a silver metal trash can with the smoldering remains of the rags and bloodied equipment that couldn't be cleaned, such as the dead soldier's boonie cap and his used compression bandages. ... A fragment from the bomb hit him in the back of the neck, severing his spinal cord. I can't imagine how scared he must have been in those final moments as he saw his life slowly slipping away, bleeding to death and beginning to lose motor function. He was a private, 22, and had only joined the unit about eight days earlier. It was his first mission out into the city."
– Robert Swope, U.S. Army, chronicling the aftermath of an improvised-explosive-device attack, from Operation Homecoming
The boy - we don't even get his name - was 22. At that age, what had he had a chance live? How can we steal that future so thoughtlessly?
– Robert Swope, U.S. Army, chronicling the aftermath of an improvised-explosive-device attack, from Operation Homecoming
The boy - we don't even get his name - was 22. At that age, what had he had a chance live? How can we steal that future so thoughtlessly?
