Posting the military deaths, in a small and insignificant way, was my way of honoring our Military Hero’s

I started doing this after veterans day last year, I even wrote a note on facebook about my feelings, here it is:

I am a Veteran of the United States Navy. Veterans are people who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It is an oath to protect our way of life here in the United States of America. That oath sometimes requires sacrifices, sometime the ultimate sacrifice. 5772 (Five Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Two) of these heroes have paid that ultimate price in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I encourage you to visit this site (link below) every day to read their stories, look at their faces, mourn their loss and pray for their families - I have and will continue to do so every day – it takes their deaths from being a 15 second news bite to making it personal - AND THEIR DEATHS SHOULD BE PERSONAL for all of us!
http://www.militarytimes.com/valor/index.php

Well, I posted that on November 11th and that was just a bit over two months ago and the count was 5772 (five thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Two) American Military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq since the beginnings of hostilities. If you still, or ever, read the posts (I do not mind either way) you will have noticed that we are 5871 (Five Thousand EIGHT Hundred and Seventy One). One service man or woman away from 100 (One Hundred) more American’s, DEAD because of the wars in TWO MONTHS.

Writing a little blurb and posting them on facebook seems ridiculous to me, it is not enough or the best way to honor them. It has started to take its toll on me as well, I can hardly get through one anymore without crying a little bit. Crying because they have been denied what most of us take for granted, a free life here in America – to live the American dream. That term, the American Dream, means different things to different folks but no matter, whatever it might mean to anyone, these folks have been denied the pursuit of happiness.

The first person I wrote about was Marine Staff Sgt. Javier O. Ortiz Rivera, 26 years old. He died on November 16th in the mountainous hell that is Helmand province, in Afghanistan.

If you have ever heard someone describe a distant place as Bum F&^k Egypt, Helmand province is about 2280 miles (literally) on the other side of that.

Javier died in a land that has been at war with someone since humans have been warring. Do you think the training Javier received at Camp Lejeune prepared him properly to perform his duties on the Marine Expeditionary Force? I can not imagine it is possible and it makes me mad and it breaks my heart that he is not with us anymore.

And then I remember Army Sgt. 1st Class James E. Thode, he was 45 – that is how old I am right now. He most likely left a family behind, a wife 2.3 kids, a cat and an old hound dog that loved him like no other. So what are the long term impact on his kids, his wife, his friends. He was in the Utah National Guard, at 45 he was a leader of the younger men and women that served with him – what impact did his death have on them?

Not sure where I was going with this blog, mainly I wanted everyone to know that those little posts are very hard for me to write and the more I do it the more angry I get about it, not angry about doing it – it is the VERY LEAST I can do. I get angry that the media seems oblivious about reporting it and the Governments inability to get us the hell out of there. When was the last time you saw or heard the number 5871 people have died in these wars. I guess I need to find something productive to do with my anger on this matter, writing this has helped. What else can we American’s do to bring this insanity to light and to an END. That is not a rhetorical question, I am looking for suggestions that will be a productive outlet for my anger. Folks we are one hero away from ONE HUNDRED Military members DEAD in a bit over 2 months.