Mourn the dead

Adán is right to remind us of the need to mourn our dead:

"As of yesterday, at least 2,344 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. We never see the coffins returning and Bush never attends any funeral of any soldier. The existing monstruous marriage between US government and news organizations makes possible this disappearing trick.

Ralph Begleiter, along with others sued (and won) to make Pentagon photos public. Without the public ritual of mourning and release,--- centering on our sense of community, sacrifice, honor, solidarity, purpose ---our country is becoming even more dead."

He concludes by suggesting that "maybe it would be a good idea for USA residents to take a minute daily and pray for our fallen soldiers." Yes, indeed.

I am more aware of this issue than ever before, because now I have students who have lost family members to this war, and students who are Iraq vets. One of my favorite recent bumperstickers goes like this -- "Honor the dead, heal the wounded, END THE WAR." Let us pray that we can make such a statement a reality.