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March: 2003-2005 1502 Military Personal Killed in Iraq

Missing image
by ~Gregg Rowe~


red, orange, yellow
iraqui sunset leaves
fall:
two years after the
burning Bush declared war:
fifteen-thousand two,
by march 6th,
two-thousand five--
fallen with a
breeze of winter
that kisses my cheek--
calls coolly
as dust winds
swim among the branches
of these trees:
I fall
to my knees.

Let us go outside--
to these iraqui leaves:
connect to the autumn moon,
lighted by the night stars--
virgin forests beckon
our children of nature.

Tonight men --
we will bond:
become one,
once more:
children of the night--
romp in these
red, orange, yellow
blood leaves:
fallen from the
dust winter trees--
and fallen friends kneel:
comrades remaining.

Following is a rose
for each fallen media reported
American soldier in this war.  
Total:  1502


























































































































































Author notes



While any casualty through a war is devastating for any
country involved, let us not get manipulated (again) by
the media.  Although for our times, the casualties in two
years time of a war seem high, let’s look at the US
involvement in past wars and the death toll in those.  
My point in writing this is that ANY casualty is tragic
and there should be more energy placed to stopping the war
and not getting caught up in the semantics and rhetoric of
newspaper reporting to see who can sell the most headlines.

Consider the facts:

American military deaths in previous wars

World War II - 408,306  1941-1945

Korean War    -  54,246   1950-1953

Vietnam War - 58,219  
                       Seeds of Conflict 1945-1960
                       America Commits   1961-1964
                       The Jungle War    1965-1968
                       The Bitter End    1969-1975

Operation Iraqi Freedom - 1,502
                                   March 06, 2003 to
                                   March 06, 2005

Bloody milestone? Hardly. Remember ... Every loss of life is regrettable.

Written March 6th, 2005

In a list

A contest entry

What did you think

    I plan to revise this poem: please leave constructive criticism!
    : , Your review:

    Comment Suggestion: What is your your first impression?
    • Line numbers  • Invite them to read
    : no Cost: 0 free left 0 points, You have (?)

Comments

1 - 32 of 32

  • MargaretG
    November 23, 2008

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    Oh my. Scrolling through the roses was an effective demonstration of the magnitude of the number. This is a very effective poem, Gregg, youchie to my heart. Thank you for your remembrance.


  • jenelda silver member
    November 22, 2008

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    So many fine young men and women have lost their lives in past wars and still these senseless wars go on.
    Very well expressed gregg and good luck in the voting.
    Love Jen


  • gaze
    November 20, 2008

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    Such statistics should not be, not then, not now, not in the future. Yet we know that they keep on coming. Really the most saddest part of human kind.


  • Blushfulmoon silver member
    November 20, 2008
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    excellent

    You indeed have penned this very well....
    Casualties from the old to the very young
    Some men did live for awhile and the young one never got a chance at all...........bless all these peoples heart
    For those who died to protect us....they will never be forgotten
    Best of luck in the contest
    Hope you come give mine a read as well
    Hugs
    Susan~~~~


  • catz Moderators member
    November 18, 2008

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    One casualty is as tragic as a multitude of casualties. And regardless of which country each of them come from, they're still equally tragic.
    Your poem shares the feelings of many, Gregg.

    A touching write, moving our hearts.

    Good luck in the contest


    Dee


  • hugh wyles silver member
    November 17, 2008

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    Dear Gregg,

    It's happening now, just as before
    as nations' youth and lifeblood drain.
    Man sees the pointlessness of war
    yet blindly blunders in again.

    Till angry politicians cease
    to advocate the use of force
    and mindlessly disrupt the peace,
    Man's history will repeat its course.

    Like autumn leaves, our youth will fall
    in futile folly of it all.

    Your poem and Author's note expresses this graphically.
    Thankyou for entering this contest and best of luck in the voting. Applause.
    Kia ora, Hugh (R.)






  • angelica silver member
    November 14, 2008

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    Good to see an entry from you.

    Dear Gregg, wonderfully written. There certainly has been a lot of lives lost in all the wars you mention. Lives lost before they even began to live.
    Love Joan


  • Mark Rickerby gold member
    April 5, 2006
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    Hi Gregg,

    Congrats on the silver. Nicely done and good job on pointing out the casualty rates of previous wars in comparison to this one, though as you say, every death, even just one, is an immense tragedy.

    To paraphrase Golda Meir's famous line, the war will stop when radical Muslims love their children as much as they hate the west.

    Take care,

    M


  • agazeley gold member
    April 2, 2006
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    A great reminder of man’s stupidity to man – It seems that eventually Britain and America will have no choice but to withdrew from Iraq . . . then civil war will break out in earnest –

    The greatest tragedy of all will be if Saddam Husseim is still safe and well and living in Iraq, he will be freed and made President one again . . .

    Well done Gregg, I hope you have plenty of more roses at the ready . .it's not over yet !!!

    Albert.


  • Kaleidoscope Sky
    March 26, 2006
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    Wow, this was amazing. Thank you for entering.

  • Nobodys Baby
    July 15, 2005
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    this is an excellent poem.
    it's very well written.

    it's sad wut the world has come 2.

    keep up the gr8 work.
    good luck with the contest.

    -hessa.


  • lordoftherings gold member
    June 3, 2005
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    Noctural Pleasure: Gheez: do I feel like a ...well, I won't say: You are so right about the French, I have no idea what I was thinking about when I was writing that translation, now I have to go back and figure out a new argument for Iraqui! (Ten minutes later)...So I checked it out on the Internet and Iraqui can be spelt two ways: Iraqi and Iraqui so I am just going to eliminate the explanation of the who in the Author's Comment box. Thank you so much for the corrected french lesson and next time I promise to double and triple check my sources there. Gregg
    Edited on Jun 03, 7:23 p.m. because ''.


  • June 3, 2005
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    This gets across your message fantastically, and your author's comment really backs that up with some hard-hitting statistics. (Not that statistics mean anything, but they at least show that you know what you're talking about.) But, may I ask, where did you get your translation from? Because I think somebody might be telling you porkies. I've only ever heard "Why?" said in French as "Pourquoi?", and I checked my dictionary, and it only defines "qui" as meaning "who", "that" (as in which), or "what?" (in a set phrase). Then again, dictionaries don't know everything, and I certainly don't. You might just want to check your sources though. If you're not sure. Not that it really matters. I still think it's a cool idea to sort of play around with the language like that. Even if it's not strictly 100% accurate. It's similar. And I agree - "Why?" is definitely the question to be asking.
    I think that the roses are a nice touch, by the way.
    Edited on Jun 03, 5:53 because 'A spelling mistake??? NO! It CAN'T be!'.


  • Old Foe
    May 9, 2005
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    Strong

    I totaly felt your poem from it's beginning to the end.I totaly agree with your point of view.And I must say that I was impressed by the Author comments.That is exactly what you should say when you write a poem like yours.Thank you for entering, and good luck...


  • HeavenScent4U
    March 20, 2005
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    Gregg, thank you for your indepth explanation, much appreciated, I see now why it was done the way it was. Hope all is well in your little corner of the world. Be Well and Be Blessed. Oh, the idea of penning and then revising with your friends is kind of cool but, if I was to do that while drunk, lol Don't even want to think about it.

  • lordoftherings gold member
    March 20, 2005
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    Heaven: I'm catching up on some very much deserved reading and came across this comment on my Iraq War Poem and you have asked about the tree leaves. I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly when I choose that background, I was thinking of the maple leaf trees in Canada, which is also our national symbol and the above poem was actually penned by three bar drunken poets who kept on adding lines to lines and this is what became of it. (You really must experience my Monday Nights at the University bar with my friends, I will write a poem in five - ten minutes and then it goes through revisions over beer with two of my other friends.) Almost Concordant Dead Beer Poet's Society at Concordia University! Anyways, the image of the leaves brought back images of shell and shock appeared on our TV screens and the sly was lit up in the blood/orange red colours. That was the metaphor I started with in the bar, the background was found here. Gregg
    Edited on Mar 20, 1:25 p.m. because ''.


  • wbiro gold member
    March 11, 2005
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    Good write- wrong side of the fence! (all your deaths don't even add up to the 500,000 children alone liberals slaughtered with their failed economic sanctions in Iraq!)
    Beyond the politics, nice imagery.


  • drowningintheembers
    March 7, 2005
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    good job

    I like this, it has really good meaning. Good luck

  • HeavenScent4U
    March 6, 2005
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    Great topic for a poem. Well written except for, I really want to know, do they have trees over there with all these beautiful colors, call me lame if you must. I have a daughter-in-law in Iraq, she has been there for almost a year now. She will be coming home shortly and we are all happy for that. She is stationed at the Baghdad Airport processing soldiers in and out as they leave to finally come home or arrive to embark on their job there. Many times, she has called here at 2:00 am our time and told us of bombs going off outside of their compund. IMy heart aches evrytime she calls as she calls in fear. I would like for once for someone to write a poem about the other servicemen and women over there who aren't in the field but have other jobs that put them in the same amount of danger. Your poem was well written and full of compassion for our soldiers. Beautiful imagery ad the flowers you ened it with representing every fallen soldier was breath taking.
    One thing I would like to say here is, I don't think, at this is only my opinion, if people have grievences with one another, would IM be a better place to do it rather than on a comment page with someone else's poem? Just something worth concidering and I say this with no malice, just respect. Be Well and Be Blessed.


  • thelordreigns gold member
    March 6, 2005
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    I too fall on my knees in anguish over all the lives lost in this horrible war.


  • NoIQ gold member
    March 6, 2005
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    Take this for what it is -- the poem is excellent, and can stand on its own. I think you take away from it by use of the Churchill quote. I personally feel you would do better to put those sentiments, which are justifiable and understandable, in the author notes. By the end of reading it, I had largely forgotten the poem, which is a shame. Let the poem flow over the reader. Rhetoric and poetry rarely compliment one another. I completely understand the point you are after here, and it very much is worthy of your craft. So let the reader appreciate the craft, and through other devices the subset of thoughts. Just my personal two cents. As always, a great poem Gregg.


  • Watuwant silver member
    March 6, 2005
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    Very nice tribute to our armed forces, and for that you deserve thanks. I do tend to agree that the media are whores, and pounce on our dirty laundry for the sake of sensationalism rather than reporting news. Leaving my personal political beliefs out of this, as I am tempted to respond to some of the rhetoric posted by other readers, nice job!
    Also, just something that struck me while reading, is "wasteful war" kind of redundant? lol
    Peace
    doug

  • marrow
    March 6, 2005
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    Amen. Great subject choice, and awesome poem. Isn't war just so sad and pathetic? It is such a shame that we have to send our young men over to a land they don't know. I thought that your falling leaf analogy was suiting, and reference to 'blood leaves' was amazing. Truthfully, I think that 'Blood Leaves' would be an AWESOME title for this work.. just something to think about. Love, love, love it.

    Justin


  • HomeGrown
    March 6, 2005
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    Beautifully Painful

    Please understand that I love this poem, I feel it is missing something. I love the language; simple, colorful, and powerful. I love your quote from Churchill. It was a moment that I agree all need to remember. I especially love the sentiment that we need to turn away from being sucked into the horror that the mainstream media make of 1,500 dead.

    What's missing?

    Well, if you are going to leave in the one word that I would remove, "wasteful", then I think you should add a rose for every Iraqui to die needlessly under Saddam. It only seems fair to see it from both sides, don't you agree?

  • SvW16
    March 6, 2005
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    Great use of Imagery. You really draw a picture with your pretty words. I enjoyed it!


  • avar valley
    March 6, 2005
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    Thanks for the detailed look at the casualties and the comparisons. I think this was well done and presented very tastefully. I thouroughly read it, and I think the roses were very deserving. The only thing I would have added was the timespan of the other wars in comparison to our two year run so far. Other than that I liked it.
    Much Respect,
    -KTG

  • Mark Rickerby gold member
    March 6, 2005
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    Hey Gregg,

    I'm a little confused about what the message is here. The Churchill quote seems to support the cause of the majority of the Iraqi people - i.e., "It is better to perish than to live as slaves". Then you call the war "wasteful" at the end. The fact that 60% of the Iraqi population risked their lives to vote and most of the others probably wanted to but were too scared, to me, proves that our cause was and is just. I heard one Iraqi man say, "America was created by God so that people like me could be free."

    The roses is a beautiful gesture, and it's a good idea to point out the casualties in previous wars. Too many years of peace seems to have made people soft and complacent. People need to be reminded that fighting tyranny always comes with a cost. And I believe the soldiers who have fallen in Iraq died noble deaths because they brought freedom to people who have suffered for 30 years under a maniac. I heard that schmuck Tim Robbins say we shouldn't have helped them because "people should fight for their own freedom." Because of his privileged life, he doesn't know what it feels like to be beaten down, disarmed, and terrorized every day by a madman posing as a leader, who would kill someone for something as meaningless as having a yellow flower in their garden. (A color that Hussein banned because he didn't like it.)

    Anyway, interesting piece and obviously thought-provoking. Sorry if I misinterpreted it. Feel free to clarify for me.

    Thanks,

    Mark

  • Darkshadow353
    March 6, 2005
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    I enjoyed this read, especially since im going there soon. USMC all the way!


  • Devsouane
    March 6, 2005
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    i enjoyed reading it but they deserved that because it's not thier land and bush must die lol !

  • catwomen
    March 6, 2005
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    great

    I completely agree with everything in this poem, war is a terrible thing, and i feel so sad for all the loss of lives at the hands of war, what a cruel world we live in, great write, keep on writing.

  • lordoftherings gold member
    March 6, 2005
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    BeanieBlondie: Thanks for your critique on my poem. I am very aware of what happened at 9/11, but that is not the subject of this poem. The subject is the media propaganda that is swelling around this war since Sept 11th. The spelling mistakes you speak of in the poem are done purposely--

    I have purposely spelled Iraqi with a-qui ending because qui translated from French into English is defined as why, the whole question of the poem.

    I am glad to read that you enjoyed this writing, it can become very controversial, something which seems to attract me to write. .     Gregg

    Edited on Mar 06, 1:30 p.m. because ''.


  • sherrie baby xox
    March 6, 2005
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    I enjoyed reading this very much. The title was a hook for me, I am very much involved with the war and such. I think you have some spelling errors to correct but other then that, this was excellent. I think it was completely correct. Also- 2,985 people died in Sept.11.01, more then Iraq. Well, great job.

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