Tears for the needlessly fallen

To the editor: I was washing windows in the sunroom while listening to NPR last week when regular programing was interrupted for coverage of the memorial service. It was a touching service overall and the president's speech, in which he acknowledged each of the 13 fallen by name and gave a brief profile of each, was especially moving. At one point I went inside to watch the service on TV but, when the first three stations I clicked on were carrying regular programing, returned to working in the sunroom and listening to the radio until the roll call. During the roll call, in which soldiers present reply "Here, Sergeant Major," and there is silence when the names of the fallen are called, I recalled a video of a roll call after a battle in Iraq in which there was silence after the names of the fallen were called and my eyes filled with tears. As the roll went on my trickle of tears became a torrent and I sat down and had a good cry. It wasn't just that soldiers at Fort Hood and in Iraq were killed. Soldiers have died defending our liberty for hundreds of years. What is so tragic about the 13 deaths at Fort Hood and the 4,362 that have died in Iraq to date is that they all died needlessly in a senseless slaughter that, in the case of the ones in Iraq, has made the country less secure. As I sat and blubbered, it occurred to me that the 13 deaths at Ft. Hood were a result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. If the invasion had not taken place, it's a pretty good bet that the slaughter in Texas would not have happened. In effect the senseless killing of 4,362 soldiers in Iraq has led to the killing of 13 more in Texas. Although the person responsible for the murders in Texas will no doubt stand trial and be convicted, there is little doubt that the person or persons ultimately responsible for the deaths of our soldiers in Iraq will never stand trial. Sincerely, Charles Leach [[In-content Ad]]