MudvilleGazette's Greyhawk reposts a moving essay on the men and women who serve in the military.
To those in uniform or who have served who wander through here today or any day, thank you for your service.
The New York Times' David Carr has a column describing the declining coverage of the war, and though we disagree on why that decline has occurred, Carr does a great service by pointing out that the MSM is abandoning its central mission in a time of war --to report fully on the course of the conflict. Carr also includes a reminder of the awful cost born by the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and by families of the fallen:
Last Thursday, Steve and Linda Ellis of Baker City, Ore., held a funeral for their daughter, Army Cpl. Jessica Ann Ellis. Corporal Ellis, a 24-year-old combat medic, died May 11 in Baghdad, a victim of a roadside bomb during her second tour of Iraq. She had been injured just three weeks before in a similar attack, but chose to go back out. She was assigned to the Second Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Second Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division and had curly, unruly hair, which brought her the nickname “Napoleon Dynamite” early in her military career. More than 300 people gathered around this collective wound at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral, according to The Baker City Herald. In the funeral Mass, Bishop Thomas Connolly spoke plainly of her contribution. “She was a good medic, well-trained and as brave as could be,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. On Saturday, her parents received an e-mail message from one of the colleagues in Iraq she was charged with looking after. “There are wounds that don’t show on the outside,” he wrote. “She gave me the best medicine for what I had — hope and love.” In a phone call Sunday, Mr. Ellis set aside his grief to describe his loss and the loss to the country she served. “She wanted to be there for her guys; she told us that,” he said. “She gave the largest sacrifice a person possibly could, selflessly, like she did every day of her life.” He added, “Jessica was a child who had no care in the world, none, besides making you smile, besides making you feel better.” Since 9/11, the country has not been attacked, and that is because the American military has kept the enemy on the run and killed or captured them across the globe, but at a cost of more than 4,500 dead and thousands more wounded. Today is the official day for remembering those who died defending the country, but all of media ought to be assisting all of America to do so every day.
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