America the Beautiful

The link above will take you to the Washington Post "Faces of the Fallen," an obituary dedicated to giving a face to fallen soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres of war. A friend of mine posted this same link earlier in the year, and with the 4th coming around tomorrow I wanted to share it with those who visit mine. I catch myself getting used to seeing more soldiers killed in Iraq on CNN.com without even giving it a second glance. To click on a name and a face and have a map show you where the soldier lived and grew up is a lot different than seeing a headline full of numbers. How lucky we are to have people that serve our country in the military so that we can enjoy the lives that we live. Regardless of our stance on the war itself and its motivations, it is imperative that we remember the lives that are being given and that have been given without question. I dedicate this post to the deep respect I have for the men and women serving our country in the armed forces, and greater than the awe of any firework I see on the 4th of July is the great sacrifice that these men and women have given for me. Someone 7000 miles away on a computer in Indiana, always wondering in what ways he can be a soldier in his life. These next lyrics come from the television series "Over There." The show isn't actually very good or accurate according to veterans, but I liked the theme song quite a bit and wanted to share it.


The day is comin, the drums are drummin'
If you know one, say a prayer...

There's mothers cryin'
and fathers sighin'
and war is in the air

The trains are fillin' up with boys
Who have left behind all their favorite toys
They're goin over there

Over there,
where someone has to die
Over there...