Dear Editor:
We mourn the deaths of 151 military personnel in Iraq which occurred in the many months after the war was prematurely declared over. It is tragic that war should exact such a high price while coalition forces try to bring some order to Iraq.
If we put things in perspective, however, we may look at the comparison between this activity and activities in prior conflicts. There is no need to go back to the Civil War – where military deaths were horrendous – or World War II – for examples.
Many do not know that a tragic (alleged) misjudgment on the part of its skipper sent the destroyer USS Hobson to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on 26, April 1952. Under cover of darkness (no lights were permitted) during simulated war maneuvers, the fleet of warships received a coded command to turn; misreading this coded message, the Hobson turned in the wrong direction. The carrier USS Wasp cut the Hobson in two; tragically, 176 servicemen (there were no women) died as the Hobson sunk in less than four minutes. These servicemen were partaking in exercises of the Korean War as part of military strategy.
Our service personnel would like to come back to this country from Iraq, after serving less than one year overseas. This is understandable, but the needs of the nation seem to require that their tours of duty be extended (mine was extended eight months so that I could serve a full two years during the conflicts). Likewise, my brothers in the military were required to serve extended periods in WWII and the Korean Conflict. All four males in our household were required to serve; there were no options even if we would have wished to exercise them (we did not).
Many veterans – like myself – are somewhat dismayed that our military (many of them really are civilians) carp and complain about their hardship. Hopefully, this is merely the exaggerations of the media to draw attention and sell their information (the media are driven by the need to make huge sums of money; the news is almost just a byproduct.)
Frank X. Landrigan