by James Glaser
October 20, 2005

I heard a radio program today that was making disparaging remarks about Cindy Sheehan and any one else who lost a loved one in Iraq, and wasn't solidly behind George Bush's war. The drift of the talk was that any American, who died in uniform over there, died a hero defending America.

I don't buy that. Yes, there can be heroes in war, but most combat deaths are just that... deaths. There is nothing heroic about getting killed by a mortar or an artillery round. If you are driving down a highway in Iraq, and your unarmored vehicle is blown up by a roadside bomb, what the heck is heroic about that?

There are heroic Soldiers and Marines, and they are the ones who were killed somehow saving their comrades. Many troops get killed in accidents and some get killed by our own troops.

The troops in Iraq are sad to say, not defending America. Even if you make the stretch between Iraq and September 11th, there is no defense involved. We know why we attacked Afghanistan. We were trying to get Osama bin Laden, which we never did. Osama told us why he attacked America, and it wasn't to take over our country, it was to get our troops out of his.... Saudi Arabia.

We were told by President Bush that we had to attack Iraq, because Saddam Hussein was about to have Weapons of Mass Destruction, but that wasn't true. Even if you buy George's new pitch about bringing democracy to Iraq, it is hard to pass that off as defending our homeland.

Our government and the Pentagon go out of their way to make every dead Soldier or Marine a hero. They need heroes to keep the public behind the war. I have been on Honor Guard detail for our VFW, and I must say I am very impressed with what the military does for those who are lost. It must cost thousands of dollars for each and every Military Funeral, with about a dozen troops flying in, and they always have at least one high ranking officer attend. You have to know, that the cost of the funeral is much higher than the body armor would have cost to protect many of those who died, because they didn't have the equipment promised to them.

When Army Sergeant Dale Panchot came home to our small town to be buried, the Army sent a General and flew in some of his fellow troopers from Iraq. Their was a Lieutenant, who stayed with the family for about two weeks, just to help out where ever he was needed. That was a nice touch.

At the funeral, praise was heaped on Dale for what he did in Iraq and many medals and ribbons were handed out to the family. The medals were given in a nice wood display box, suitable for hanging in the living room and then at the graveside, the flag covering the coffin was presented to the family after being folded into a triangle. This was just after the formation of jets flew over in the "Missing Man" formation. All of this was coordinated perfectly, as the Army has had a lot of practice these last few years.

At every military funeral of a Soldier or Marine killed in Combat, Medals and Ribbons are given out to create the allusion of a hero having died. Somehow those little pieces of cloth and shiny medal, are supposed to comfort those who lost a loved one, but many have told me that after a while, the display goes into a drawer, so they don't have that constant reminder.

It is nice to remember a loved one lost as a hero, but some time in the future it will be a real heart break to realize that most military combat deaths are for naught.