U.S.Sargent: Honor American War Dead Same as Va Tech Students

If you read the article linked to in this entry's title, you can read about an American Army Sargent who wrote an opinion piece lamenting that America war dead aren't shown the same respect as the students at Virginia Tech. The following quotes are from the article:

In the article issued Monday by the public affairs office at Bagram military base north of Kabul, Sgt. Jim Wilt lamented that his comrades' deaths have become a mere blip on the TV screen, lacking the "shock factor" to be honored by the Stars and Stripes as the deaths at Virginia Tech were.

"I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member," Wilt wrote.

He noted that Bagram obeyed President Bush's order last week that all U.S. flags at federal locations be flown at half-staff through April 22 to honor 32 people killed at Virginia Tech by a 23-year-old student gunman who then killed himself.

The article goes on to note that while some states do lower the flag to half mast when a soldier from that state is killed, this practice is not uniform. The Sargent's point is well taken. Regardless of whether you agree with this war or not, those men and women who are serving in Iraq and in Afghanistan deserve our respect and deserve to have their sacrifice recognized by us.