Featuring narration by Willard Scott:
National Victory Celebration Persian Gulf war Parade JUNE 8, 1991
Desert Storm US Casualties
148 U.S. battle deaths, 145 nonbattle deaths
2003 Iraq Mission Accomplished
2003 Iraq Mission Accomplished US Casualties
American casualties: 139 killed, 542 wounded
2015 update:
“Since the speech, 4,637 military members in the Iraq War coalition led by the U.S. have lost their lives, versus 172 prior, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.”
2016 update:
“As of June 29, 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Defense casualty website, there were 4,424 total deaths (including both killed in action and non-hostile) and 31,952 wounded in action (WIA) as a result of the Iraq War.”
2018 update:
War in Afghanistan – Operation Enduring Freedom
2018 update:
“If You Forget About a War, It’s Time to End It”
“And a democracy that spends more time debating kneeling before the flag than the justification for issuing folded ones desperately needs to get reacquainted with the Constitution – and its moral compass.”
“Our loved ones didn’t sign up to serve a president. They signed up to serve the American people, most of whom have no idea what they’re fighting for.”
Whatever happened to the formal congressional declaration of war?
This would be the time to hear from elected leaders and top generals on all the issues that have doomed the Department of Defense track record for winning wars since DOD was established in 1949.
Any chance the midterm elections feature any talk of shutting down undeclared/unwon wars that never end?
Each November, school teachers across America host Veterans Day assemblies– and promote the idea to children that The Troops are in distant lands- fighting for American rights and freedoms- as if the US Armed Forces function as some sort of giant civil rights organization.
In Washington State, these assemblies are mandatory.
The VA tells teachers that The Troops are Defending Liberty and Freedom.
Love to see a student ask: If The Troops fight for your right to sit, stand, kneel, etc.- why were black people still riding at the back of the bus after the big WWII victory?
Love to see a student ask: If the wars aren’t won- how can they protect our freedom?
Love to see a student ask: When the US Armed Forces are sent to Lebanon, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Vietnam, etc.- how is that defending the US Constitution– or our rights and freedoms, or our physical security?
Love to see a student ask: Whatever happened to lessons about Armistice Day?
Don’t miss our companion blog- found here: Old Man Blog
Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yeomalt
Would be interesting to know how many Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Afghan casualties, how many displaced, how many terrorists we created out of peaceful people who used to kinda like the idea of Americans before we blew the crap out of their countries. Americans rightly grieve for those American casualties, but why ignore the ones we killed? Or in the case of Vietnam, why do we ignore the million-plus unnecessary deaths due to a war lasting fifteen years longer than it should have, only prolonged by our presence there? And WTF did it all have to do with our American freedom anyway?
I’m done now, thanks Alex. 🙂
Good points.
If the path we are on now continues for another 50 years, will people still speak of The Troops in terms of defending American rights and freedoms?