Until the troops come home

The month of mourning for President Gerald Ford ended on Thursday – 30 days with flags flying at half staff. He handled his assigned task after Watergate with care, and I don’t begrudge him the honor. But I think it’s unfortunate there is more official recognition over the death of a man who lived into his nineties, presumably enjoying a good life after his years of service in Washington, than for the deaths of 3,000+ young service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe we should fly the flags at half staff every day until the troops come home, to honor over 3,000 American lives lost along with those of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people.

In the British Parliament, every Wednesday during Prime Minister’s Question Time, British fatalities in Afghanistan and Iraq are acknowledged. Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats, refers to it as “the bleakest moment of the week.” Having seen Congressional representatives from Florida take time out of the “First 100 hours” agenda to salute the Florida Gators on winning college football’s National Championship, I sure hope our Congress is also naming each casualty, every week. Doing so would/must surely remind them of the urgency of ending the occupation. So would seeing every flag flying at half staff, every day, until the troops return home or the killing stops – whichever comes first.

The downside to this proposal would be that we could not lower the flags one day at a time, to honor special losses. Yesterday, Saturday January 27, official flags in Oregon were flying at half staff in memory of Army Sgt. Sean Patrick Fennerty of Portland. Sgt. Fennerty, age 25, graduated from Jesuit High School in 1999, and served in the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. He died on Saturday, January 20, 2007 in the Anbar province of Iraq.

When Steve and I were driving on the main road out of Madras on our trip two weeks ago, I saw an official, permanent roadside memorial to Army soldier Thomas Tucker, killed June 16, 2006. Like people in Madras, we should be remembering our lost heroes more than on one day of flag-lowering. How about a sign in Pioneer Courthouse Square, listing the names of Portlanders killed in this war?