Remembering the Fallen

Ode of Remembrance

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.

     Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen” – 1914

How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, by all their country’s wishes blest

William Collins

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The American Revolution

1775 – 1783

The Delaware Regiment
Battle of Long Island
Brooklyn, New York — August 27, 1776

The Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution is a war memorial located in Washington Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  It honors the 25,000 soldiers who died during the American Revolutionary War, many of whom were buried in that park in mass graves.  In the  Tomb  rests the disinterred and archaeologically examined remains of a soldier, although undetermined whether Colonial or British.

The memorial was first conceived in 1954 by the Washington Square Planning Committee and completed in 1957.   The monument, designed by architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh, includes an eternal flame and, as  its centerpiece,  a bronze cast of Jean Antoine Houdon’s statue of George Washington.    An unknown number of bodies remain buried beneath the square and surrounding area.

Engraved in the side of the tomb are these words:

“Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness”

“The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint  efforts of common dangers, suffering and success”   (Washington Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796)

“In unmarked graves within this square lie thousands of unknown soldiers of Washington’s Army who died of wounds and sickness during the Revolutionary War”

The plaque on the tomb reads:

“Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington’s army who died to give you liberty”

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War of 1812

1812 – 1815

Battle of New Orleans
January, 1815
National Archives & Records Administration

The 32-month War of 1812 and its 15,000 casualties approached the 25,000 war-related  deaths  during  nearly 9 years of the American Revolutionary War.  In both cases, disease, not the musket, created most casualties.  Pneumonia was a particular scourge of American society and its army was not immune.

Multiple monuments to the War of 1812 exist nationwide, including the memorial to the Battle of New Orleans.

Battle of New Orleans Monument
Chalmette, Louisiana

The final land battle of the War of 1812 was fought here following the signing of the peace treaty but prior to the news reaching the armies. The Battle of New Orleans Memorial stands over 70 feet tall and looks over the Chalmette battlefield where 2,000 British and 13 U.S. casualties occurred.

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Civil War

1861 – 1865

Unknown Union Soldier of the Civil War
Circa 1860 and 1870 – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Unknown Confederate Soldier
Company E, “Lynchburg Rifles,” 11th Virginia Infantry Volunteers, 1861

The Civil War Monument of the Unknown
Located on the grounds of Arlington House (the Robert E. Lee Memorial)
Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia
(Photo: Creative Commons, author Tim. 1965)

The inscription:

“Beneath this stone repose the bones of two thousand one hundred and eleven unknown soldiers gathered after the war from the fields of Bull Run and the route to the Rappahanock.  Their remains could not be identified but their names and deaths are recorded in the archives of their country and its grateful citizens honor them and their noble army of martyrs.  May they rest in peace.  September A.D. 1866”

U.S. Army troops, dispatched to investigate every battlefield within a 35 mile radius of Washington, D.C., collected the bodies of the 2,111 Union and Confederate dead.  Most were retrieved from the battlefields of First and Second Bull Run,  as well as the Union army’s retreat along the Rappahanock River.  Some of these soldiers were interred where they fell, but most were full or partial remains discovered on the field of battle.  None were identifiable.   The Civil War incurred 750,000 in casualties.

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  Spanish – American War

April 25-December 10, 1898

Charge of the 24th and 25th Colored Infantry and Rescue of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill
July 2, 1898

United States Army officer Colonel Charles A. Wikoff was the most senior U.S. military officer killed in the Spanish–American War.  American casualties totaled 2,446 with 385 in combat and 2,061 succumbing to mosquito-borne disease.

Colonel Charles A. Wickoff, U.S. Army
Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War Memorial
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia
Dedicated May 12, 1902

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World War I

1917 – 1918

President Wilson addresses Congress on the break in official relations with Germany on 3 February 1917.

World War I was a global war centered in Europe from 28 July 1914 until 11 November 1918.  More than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians died as a result of the war which was one of the deadliest conflicts in history.   U.S. military casualties totaled 116,516.

WWI American soldier, Le Mans, France

Tomb of the Unknowns
Arlington National Cemetery

On March 4, 1921, the United States Congress approved the burial of an unidentified WWI American serviceman in the plaza of the new Memorial Amphitheater.   On November 11th, an unknown soldier returned from France was also entombed.

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World War II

1941 – 1945

President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Delivering his “Day of Infamy” speech to Congress for a declaration of war
December 8, 1941
(U.S. Government – U.S. Archives)

WWII was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, though related conflicts began earlier.  It involved the vast majority of the world’s nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.   The most widespread war in history, it directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries.  Marked by mass deaths of civilians, as well as military forces, an estimated 50 to 85 million fatalities made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history.  U.S. military casualties reached 405,399.

American soldier in 1940s WWII uniform

Pacific Arch of the National WWII Memorial-Washington, DC

The National World War II Memorial is a national monument dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II.   Consisting of 56 pillars and a pair of small triumphal arches surrounding a plaza and fountain, it sits on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Opened on April 29, 2004, it was dedicated by President George W. Bush on May 29.  The memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group.   As of 2009, more than 4.4 million people visit the memorial each year.

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Korean War

1950 – 1953

U.S. Troops in Korea
September, 1945

The Korean War between North and South Korea was joined by a United Nations force led by the United States in support for the South, while China, aligned with the North, was assisted by the Soviet Union.  The war arose from the division of Korea at the end of World War II and from the global tensions of the Cold War  which developed immediately afterwards.   American casualties for this conflict would reach 36,574.

Aerial View of the Korean War Veterans Memorial
Washington, D.C.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial was confirmed by the U.S. Congress on October 28, 1986, with design and construction managed by the Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board and the American Battle Monuments Commission.  President George H. W. Bush conducted the groundbreaking for the site  on June 14, 1992.

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Vietnam War

1964 – 1973

US troops fighting in 1965 Battle of Ia Drang
UH-1 Huey infantry dispatch

The Vietnam War was a Cold-War era  conflict  that  occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.    It was fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the United States and other anti-communist proponents.

Direct U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973.  The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.  The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities.  Estimates of the number of Vietnamese service members and civilians killed vary from 800,000 to 3.1 million.  Some 200,000–300,000 Cambodians, 20,000–200,000 Laotians, and 58,209 U.S. service members also died in the conflict.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
National Mall
Washington, D.C.
Mario Roverto Durán Ortiz. December 26, 2011 photo

Three Soldiers by Frederick Hart
Grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
National Mall
Washington, D.C

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Gulf War

1990 – 1991

USAF aircraft of the 4th Fighter Wing (F-16, F-15C and F-15E) fly over Kuwaiti oil fires, set by the retreating Iraqi army during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

The Gulf War  (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Shield  (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) in its combat phase.  It was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait.  U.S. military forces suffered 384 deaths and 467 wounded.

U.S. Army soldiers from the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade during the Gulf War

August 13, 2009.  Capt. Michael Scott Speicher carried by a Navy honor guard to All Saints Chapel at the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, FL.  Declared MIA when his F/A-18 Hornet was shot down over Anbar province, Iraq on the first day of offensive operations in Desert Storm, Jan. 17, 1991, his remains were recovered from Iraq in 2009.

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War on Terror

Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and ISIL (Operation Inherent Resolve)

7 October 2001 – Present

Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, an international military campaign commenced for the War on Terror.  The United States led a coalition of other NATO and non-NATO nations to destroy al-Qaeda and other militant extremist organizations.

U.S. President George W. Bush first used the term “War on Terror” on 20 September 2001. The Bush administration and the western media have since used the term to argue a global military, political, legal, and conceptual struggle against those designated as terrorist in nature and the regimes accused of supporting them.  It was originally used with a particular focus on Muslim countries associated with Islamic terrorism organizations including al-Qaeda and those of similar persuasion.

In the period following 9/11, former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf sided with the US against the Taliban government in Afghanistan after an ultimatum by then US President George W. Bush.  Musharraf agreed to give the US the use of three airbases for Operation Enduring Freedom.

On 12 January 2002, Musharraf gave a speech against Islamic extremism. He unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and pledged to combat Islamic extremism and lawlessness within Pakistan itself. He stated that his government was committed to rooting out extremism and made it clear that the banned militant organizations would not be allowed to resurface under any new name.  It’s estimated that 15 US soldiers have been killed while fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants in Pakistan since the War on Terror began.

In 2013, President Barack Obama announced the United States was no longer pursuing a War on Terror, as the military focus should be on specific enemies rather than a tactic.  He stated, “We must define our effort not as a boundless ‘Global War on Terror,’ but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America.”

The president has authorized U.S. Central Command to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes of Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

 Afghanistan

2001 – Present (2,229 casualties)

American infantry in Afghanistan, assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, board a CH-47 Chinook helicopter for return to Kandahar Army Air Field on Sept. 4, 2003. The Soldiers were searching in Daychopan district, Afghanistan, for Taliban fighters and illegal weapons caches.

U.S. Army Spc. Jason Curtis Assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment,
provides security for members of a medical civil action project in Parun, Afghanistan
June 28, 2007.

Iraq

2003 – 2011  (4,488 casualties)

Sgt. Auralie Suarez and Private Brett Mansink take cover during a firefight with guerrilla forces in the Al Doura section of Baghdad on 7th of March 2007. The soldiers are from Company C, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Sgt. Karl King and Pfc. David Valenzuela lay down cover fire while their squad maneuvers down a street from behind the cover of a Stryker combat vehicle. They are engaging gunmen who fired on their convoy in Al Doura, Iraq on 7 March 2007.
The Soldiers are from Company C, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. U.S. Army. Photo by Staff Sgt. Sean A. Foley

Pakistan

Since 2001  (15 casualties)

Pakistan-Afghanistan border. GI standing in the Khyber Pass at the Torkham border crossing.

Soldier Edwin Churchill calls for indirect fire following an enemy attack on his company’s position near the Pakistan border in Afghanistan on May 18, 2011.

Syria

Tomahawk missile being fired from US destroyers USS Philippine Sea and USS Arleigh Burke at IS targets
23 September 2014

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In Memory of their Sacrifice

 God Bless America and our Military

Helicopter flying in front of the Statue of Liberty, New York. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement office of Air and Marine Interdiction provides airspace security over New York City.

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