Soldiers' Deaths Show Tragedy Of Iraq War
Last updated Thursday, July 10, 2008 4:21 PM CDT in Opinion
Every American death in Iraq or Afghanistan hurts someone.
It may be family members or friends or coworkers.
In the cases of Anthony Woodham and Justin English, an entire region mourns.
Woodham, of Rogers, was serving his second tour in Iraq with the 39th Brigade Support Battalion, 39th Brigade Combat Team. He was working in the motor pool at Camp Adder, Tallil, Iraq, when he died.
English had resigned his post as a Springdale firefighter/emergency medical technician to go to work for Wackenhut Corp., a government contractor which provides many services in Iraq. He was in a motorcade near Mosul which was hit by an explosive device on Monday.
The men seemed to share a love of the military.
Woodham's family said he wanted to serve 20 years in the National Guard. He planned to retire next year when his deployment was over.
English always wanted to join the military, according to his aunt. The Wackenhut job allowed him to use his firefighter/EMT training in a military situation.
Woodham and his mother shared coffee each morning - instant messaging one another, including an exchange the day he died.
English had only been in Iraq a week, not long enough to send an e-mail address to his family.
The deaths of Woodham and English follow too quickly the death in April of Rogers resident and Marine Cpl. Kyle Wilks who died when his convoy hit an explosive device.
The death of these men - two in the 20s, just starting their lives; the third, still a young man in his 30s, the father of three - throw into stark relief the tragedies of war.
As we go through our every day lives the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq become distant. Gas and grocery prices, housing foreclosures - those are the headlines that grab our attention because they impact the way we live.
Then a death occurs in a faraway place involving, however, someone we know; who lives nearby; who has only been in Iraq a week. It is then that the wars become real for us again.
Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of the fallen.
And our hopes are for a quick resolution to these wars which have killed too many.
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