Three Thousand
January 1, 2007
…is the number plastered on the front page of today’s Plain Dealer. It is the number of Americans killed in the Iraq War. Years after we waged this war, it’s easy to go on with our lives and forget about what it means. Newspapers stick their Iraq War stories in the back of the International section of the paper and Cable News is more concerned with Mary Cheney’s personal life and whether or not we say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” Whenever a major milestone occurs, say 1000, 2000, or 3000 American casualties, we spend a day or two thinking about it and then lose interest again. The Iraq War (or any war/conflict/genocide for that matter) has a human element. Every person who dies, whether they are American, Iraqi, European, or whoever has a profound impact on people close to them.
The Washington Post ran an emotional story on the front page of the first paper of 2007. The article, which is titled Cold Ground for a Summer Love, tells the story of a young woman who lost her boyfriend in Iraq. After I finished the article I was grateful that someone had written about the human aspect of war. After I started reading some comments people were making about the article I was shocked to find out how strongly opposed a lot of people were to this story. I want to address some of their common arguments.
They only dated for one month, big deal. There are 2,999 people who are equally missed by people more serious than a one-month girlfriend.
This seems to assume there is a limit to how much you are allowed to care for someone. Since they only dated for one month she really shouldn’t care that he is dead? I’m not quite sure I understand what the appropriate time span two people have to date before they are allowed to have feelings for each other. Sure, it’s true that some people have an easy time rebounding from crisis, but for others it takes more time. This particular story may have made the front page of the Washington Post but there are thousands of similar stories that didn’t. To say that this is an isolated incident seems somewhat ignorant. Everyone has a different way of coping with loss. Some go to therapy, some visit cemeteries, Cindy Sheehan went all the way to Crawford Texas.
Death is an inevitable part of life; people die in car accidents and from hearth attacks every day. Crying in a cemetery is something that only drama-queens and emo kids do. Get over it.
This is a pretty harsh generalization. Like I said before, everyone is different and copes differently. Just because you might cope with a loss by getting together with someone else as soon as possible or forgetting they existed doesn’t mean it is what everyone wants to or should do. Would you truly appreciate the advice “get over it” if someone close to you died?
Wolfe knew exactly what he signed up for. No one should be surprised he is dead, he had it coming.
I hear this argument all the time and can’t believe people actually think this way. People go into the military for different reasons. Some go because they can’t afford to go to college and need the military to assist financially. Some go because they were recruited out of high school by military recruiters. Some go because they come from a military family. Some go because the alternative, working in a dead-end job with little chance for advancement, is worse. I don’t think it’s fair to say that everyone who goes into the Reserves has a death wish. And who is to say that some people may have joined the Reserves because they felt strongly about protecting America from Iraq’s WMDs. Is it fair that they are fighting and dying for something else?
So now its 2007… the Iraq War is unlikely to end soon; but its not too late to remember the people that this war impacts.
The Washington Post ran an emotional story on the front page of the first paper of 2007. The article, which is titled Cold Ground for a Summer Love, tells the story of a young woman who lost her boyfriend in Iraq. After I finished the article I was grateful that someone had written about the human aspect of war. After I started reading some comments people were making about the article I was shocked to find out how strongly opposed a lot of people were to this story. I want to address some of their common arguments.
They only dated for one month, big deal. There are 2,999 people who are equally missed by people more serious than a one-month girlfriend.
This seems to assume there is a limit to how much you are allowed to care for someone. Since they only dated for one month she really shouldn’t care that he is dead? I’m not quite sure I understand what the appropriate time span two people have to date before they are allowed to have feelings for each other. Sure, it’s true that some people have an easy time rebounding from crisis, but for others it takes more time. This particular story may have made the front page of the Washington Post but there are thousands of similar stories that didn’t. To say that this is an isolated incident seems somewhat ignorant. Everyone has a different way of coping with loss. Some go to therapy, some visit cemeteries, Cindy Sheehan went all the way to Crawford Texas.
Death is an inevitable part of life; people die in car accidents and from hearth attacks every day. Crying in a cemetery is something that only drama-queens and emo kids do. Get over it.
This is a pretty harsh generalization. Like I said before, everyone is different and copes differently. Just because you might cope with a loss by getting together with someone else as soon as possible or forgetting they existed doesn’t mean it is what everyone wants to or should do. Would you truly appreciate the advice “get over it” if someone close to you died?
Wolfe knew exactly what he signed up for. No one should be surprised he is dead, he had it coming.
I hear this argument all the time and can’t believe people actually think this way. People go into the military for different reasons. Some go because they can’t afford to go to college and need the military to assist financially. Some go because they were recruited out of high school by military recruiters. Some go because they come from a military family. Some go because the alternative, working in a dead-end job with little chance for advancement, is worse. I don’t think it’s fair to say that everyone who goes into the Reserves has a death wish. And who is to say that some people may have joined the Reserves because they felt strongly about protecting America from Iraq’s WMDs. Is it fair that they are fighting and dying for something else?
So now its 2007… the Iraq War is unlikely to end soon; but its not too late to remember the people that this war impacts.
Rob, for your sake, never ever read the comments section of online news sites, YouTube or anything that allows regular people to express their opinion on a given subject (except maybe this). People are infinitely stupid, insensitive, racist and any other terrible thing you can think of.
On the second quote – there has to be something wrong with this person. Though it is possible that he is simply trying to act tough and get on the “lol emo kids” bandwagon, its possible this person just doesn’t understand normal human emotional responses.
Also, its amazing the things people will say now to try to justify this war. The few that still try are really desperate.
I think Ann Scott Tyson and Josh White say it best in Monday's Washington Post: "Those close to the events have been profoundly moved, while those at some distance, the majority of Americans, have been largely unaffected."
And as one sergeant put it: "The fatal flaw was when right after September 11 the president asked everyone to go on with their lives. That set the stage for no one sacrificing."
It is a lot easier for those unaffected by this war to make ridiculous comments like what I've been reading on the internet; now I understand why so much garbage is out there.