It is certainly the case that, for any military action of comparable size, our casualties in Iraq have been astonishingly light. During the Korean and Vietnam wars, there were weeks in which we lost more people in combat than we have in the entire Iraq war to date. During World War II, there were days, indeed, there were hours, in which we lost more men than we have lost people in the entire Iraq campaign so far.

This, by any rational measure, is nearly miraculous.

And yet each and every one of the fallen is every bit as great as every fallen hero we lost in our other wars. Every one a snuffed life, a family crushed by tragedy. They are no less important, their loss no less keenly felt.

It is important that we remember them all today.