In Memoriam

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, the holiday in which American’s honor the lives of those who died in service to this great nation. Americans have always been a people who fought for what they wanted, often times justly and others, well, not so much. As a result there are multitudes of men and women whose lives were cut brutally and violently short in order that we could arrive where we are today, at the apex of civilization as we know it. Now I am aware that that statement may sound arrogant to some but it is my belief that, even with all of it’s short comings, the United States of America holds a unique position in the history of humanity as a guiding beacon for the people of the world to look upon.

There is no other nation that is as wealthy in mind, body and spirit as the U.S. The great people of this nation have the ability to exercise their free will however they wish which can not be said for any other nation in existence today. Of course that freedom comes with ultimate responsibility for our actions. It is my belief that as a population we are still immature in this regard, too often willing to blame others for our misdeeds or lack of actions. Understand that those we honor tomorrow fought and died so that we could enjoy this position, and all they asked in return is that we fully respect and appreciate the rights and freedoms they deliver to us.

This is no time to pick fights with people over differences of opinion, instead it is a time to reflect upon the responsibility we hold as citizens of this country. These men and women gave their lives, the least we can do is honor them by not taking advantage of our wealth and comfortable position. While you enjoy time with your families this holiday I ask that you take a moment to reflect upon the lives of all those who died so that you could enjoy your freedom. I apologize if this list is incomplete but it is the best compilation I could find of U.S. war casualties throughout our history (courtesy of Wikipedia).

War or Conflict	KIA	Total Dead	Wounded
American Revolutionary War	6,824	c. 25,000	8,445
Quasi-War	20	20	42
Barbary Wars	35	35	64
Other 19th century actions against pirates	10	10	21
War of 1812	2,260	?	4,505
Indian Wars (1817-1898)	1,000+	?	?
Mexican-American War	1,733	13,283	4,152
American Civil War	214,938	558,052	412,175+
Korean Expedition, 1871 (Shinmiyangyo)	3	3	13
Spanish-American War	385	2,446	1,662
Philippine-American War	2,008	5,224	3,718
Boxer Rebellion	37	37	204
Mexican Revolution 1914-1919	35+	?	70+
Occupation of Haiti 1915-1934	146	?	26+
World War I, see also: World War I casualties	53,513	116,708	204,002
1918-1919 Northern Russian Expedition (Polar Bear Expedition)	180*	353	?
World War II, see also: World War II casualties	292,131	407,316	671,846
Korean War	33,651	36,516**	103,284
Vietnam War	47,369	58,167	153,303
Iran Hostage Crisis (Operation Eagle Claw)	0	8	5
El Salvador Civil War	9	20	35
Beirut Deployment	256	266	169
Bombing of Libya (Operation El Dorado Canyon)	2	2	0
Persian Gulf Escorts	39	39	31
Invasion of Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury)	18	19	119
Invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause)	23	40	324
Persian Gulf War	148	383	467
Somalia, (Operation Restore Hope)	29	43	153
Haiti, (Operation Uphold Democracy)	0	4	0
Bosnia	1	12	6
Kosovo, (Operation Allied Force)	0	2	?
Afghanistan & the Philippines (Operation Enduring Freedom)	55+	156	238+
War in Iraq (invasion & occupation), see also: Invasion and occupation of Iraq casualties	1,184	1,493***	11,069
Haiti, (Operation Secure Tomorrow)	0	0	1

* Some reported KIA may have been held as POW’s[1] (http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/memoir/aef_cong.htm)

** Does not include nearly 8,000 listed as MIA.

***The actual count of dead as of 5/29/05 is 1657 (Courtesy of Iraq Coalition Casualties).

One Response to “In Memoriam”

1. Dan says:

   February 15, 2008 at 11:41 am

   Graneda: I have been researching this operation and noticed that inaddition to the 19 total KIA …. several sites make note of 4 MIA ….

   I can not find any additional inforamtion on the 4 MIAs …

   Can you supply and direction???

   Thanks,

   Dan

   Reply