they are NOT just a number or a comma

or an unknown face. they each have a story. some simple some not so simple. they each had a life. they each had families and friends and loves. each 2,747* of them are now dead. i will not forget them

here is the (partial) story of alex


In Marine's Death, Clues to a Son's Life
Mother Finds Answers In Effort to Understand Sergeant Killed in Iraq


By Dan Morse Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 11, 2006; Page A01
Gilda Carbonaro pulled her car to a stop inside Arlington National Cemetery, stepping out to visit the freshly dug grave of her only child, Alex.
With her was a broad-shouldered Marine, limping from a leg shattered in battle, who towered a foot over Gilda. The Marine hadn't known Alex well but held precious clues about the person he had become.
Gilda had many questions. She and her husband had raised Alex in a world different from the military's -- the protected streets of Bethesda. Alex graduated from a Quaker high school, then stunned them by enlisting in the Marine Corps.
Gilda trusted he would serve out his initial five-year commitment, come home and go to college. Instead, he reenlisted, earning a spot in one of the Marines' elite reconnaissance units, called Recon, which operate deep inside enemy territory. That took Alex on two tours in Iraq, a war Gilda had spent two years trying to end..........



*number was as of 4 pm yesterday and it represents us military fatalities in operation iraqi "freedom"