Memorial Day 2007

Their silent wounds have speech
More eloquent than men;
Their tones can deeper reach
Than human voice or pen.

-William Woodman

U. S. Military Casualties of War

World War II - 300,000

Korean War - 23, 3000

Vietnam - 58, 226

Iraq - 3, 455... To date

"There never was a good war or a bad peace."

-Benjamin Franklin

"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war."

-Donald Rumsfeld

"You cannot be on one hand dedicated to peace, and on the other hand, dedicated to violence. Those two things are irreconcilable."

-Condoleeza Rice

"Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny exercised "for the good of it's victims" may be the most oppressive."

-C.S. Lewis

If you haven't had the chance to visit the Iraq War Memorial, in Lafayette, California, you really should. It is a very moving tribute to the fine men and women we have lost to this terrible war. The sign indicating the lost is updated each Sunday. While the memorial has been made into a subject of controversy, what I see is the truth, and a reminder of what the human cost of war really is.

Inside Bay Area: Lafayette War Memorial Reminds Us Of War's Cost

-OndineMonet
Lafayette War Memorial
Lafayette, California
May, 2007
Afternoon