Our flag is flying today, on this wet Memorial Day. My habit is to just sit for a while and reflect on the sacrifice so many have made. Today I got to thinking about the statistics of war casualties – the way that the raw numbers have changed so much, even within my own lifetime. For starters, consider the numbers of American war dead for each major conflict we've been in:
Since the Vietnam war, in ten conflicts, we have suffered less than 5,000 casualties – nearly all of which are in Iraq. In just the preceding portion of the 20th century, we suffered over 600,000 war casualties – 120 times as many. But actually the impact on those earlier generations was even greater, as the U.S. population grew from 76 million to 281 million in that same period. I just ran the numbers, and it works out to roughly 1 American in 150 died in war in the first half of the 20th century, whereas today it is roughly 1 in 56,000. The generations that included my parents and my grandparents suffered casualties in war at a rate that is roughly 400 times what we're suffering today. You'd never, ever figure that out from the news...
The casualty rate from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars works out to about 1,000 per year over the course of the war (though the rates are much lower than that today). Just for comparison purposes, the U.S. has between 35,000 and 40,000 traffic fatalities each year. And here's a much more politically-incorrect comparison: each year, something like 1.5 million American women kill their babies (exercising their “choice”).
Pondering all that, I can't help but observe that the vast majority of the men and women I'm remembering today were born before I was. They fought in wars that were much riskier for Americans – wars fought with weapons that look primitive compared to what our soldiers today have, wars fought against enemies with comparable (or even superior) military capabilities, and often wars that were much more clearly existential in nature.
None of these facts detracts from the courage and sacrifice of today's soldiers – this American couldn't be prouder of the superb troops we're fielding today, along with their incredibly superior weapons systems and the world's best military leadership. But it is surely something to reflect upon, as we listen to those so inclined talking endlessly about the terrible price we're paying in Iraq. Earlier wars exacted a vastly heavier toll in American blood, something that seems to have been generally lost from the American consciousness.
Too many Americans have forgotten the enormous sacrifice of earlier generations; I have witnessed this myself in many conversations, mainly with younger Americans, who have badly distorted views of our past. For instance, I recall a conversation a couple of years ago with a co-worker, a man about 30 years old. He was very angry about the Iraq war, and made a comment in my hearing to the effect that Bush was killing more Americans than any President before him.
I asked him if he really meant what he was implying, that more soldiers were dying in Iraq than had died in any previous war. He replied, with some heat, that of course that's what he meant. Further conversation revealed that he really did believe that we suffered more casualties in Iraq than we did in Vietnam, or World War II, or even than the Civil War. Such profound ignorance of history does more than dishonor the soldiers of yesterday – it's dangerous, as these ignorant people (Obama appears to be an example of this) are going to be our political leadership soon.
Now there's a scary thought on this Memorial Day!
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