In order to stay current on military affairs, I subscribe to various Department of Defense and related news sources.
I enjoy and look forward to receiving news releases on how our military Olympians are doing in London, and I also like the great images I receive of our men and women flying those fantastic aircraft, sailing those fabulous ships or driving off into the sunset in a massive armored personnel carrier or similar fighting vehicle.
But every time I receive an e-mail from “DoD News” with the ominous subject line, “DOD Identifies Army Casualties,” I just cringe and hesitate to open it knowing darn well what it is about, but dreading the length of the e-mail, the number of our brave servicemen and servcewomen who have been killed — almost always in Afghanistan.
Hardly a day goes by that my mailbox does not contain one of those e-mails. It is a constant reminder that — while the news media may bury such news in some corner or not even cover it anymore — our troops continue to make the ultimate sacrifice in a conflict that goes on and on…
This one just came in:
DOD Identifies Army Casualties
08/03/2012 10:15 PM CDT
________________________________________
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 652-12
August 03, 2012________________________________________
DOD Identifies Army CasualtiesThe Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died Aug. 1, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when they encountered an enemy improvised explosive device. These soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.
Killed were:
1st Lt. Todd W. Lambka, 25, of Fraser, Mich., andPfc. Jesus J. Lopez, 22, of San Bernardino, Calif.
This one arrived yesterday:
DOD Identifies Army Casualty
08/02/2012 10:34 PM CDT
________________________________________
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 649-12
August 02, 2012The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Spc. Kyle B. McClain, 25, of Rochester Hills, Mich., died Aug. 1, in Salim Aka, Afghanistan. McClain was assigned to 1433rd Engineer Company, 507th Engineer Battalion, 177th Military Police Brigade, Kalamazoo, Mich.
This one on July 30:
DOD Identifies Army Casualty
07/30/2012 05:48 PM CDT
________________________________________
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 638-12
July 30, 2012The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Spc. Benjamin C. Pleitez, 25, of Turlock, Calif., died July 27, in Mazar E Sharif, Afghanistan.
Pleitez was assigned to 1072nd Transportation Company, 746th Combat Support Battalion, 224th Sustainment Brigade, Van Nuys, Calif.
Notice the ages of our young heroes.
Notice the diversity of their last names.
Notice that they are all brave Americans.
Notice the constancy and perversity of the drip-drip.
Imagine the grief of their families…
