IT'S JUST A NUMBER - OR IS IT???

You may have seen this somewhere before.
I got it off of John's blog http://leftinaboite.blogspot.com/
I remember when the number was 4000.
I thought "wow, that's an incredible number of deaths in Iraq."

As time went by, I didn't pay too much attention to the numbers climbing. Then today I thought about it some more. Since I last stopped and actually paused at the incredible number of deaths just a few short months ago, I realized that there were 226 American soldiers still alive back then, who are no longer with us today...

Each soldier's death is just as sad as the next; yet we seem to pause to remember primarily when the number reaches some rounded number, such as 4000.

Today, I am remembering all 4226 solderiers who gave their lives in Iraq... and in addition, I pray for the souls who are alive today, yet will increment the number in the days to come...

It's time to end the American bloodshed and bring our troops home; but in the mean time, I will remember that each number represents what was once a brave, living, breathing, feeling, young American soldier.