Counting the cost....

[sportbilly42]

Pilgrim asked on the thread reporting the sad death of SAC Livingstone:

Anyone counting the cost here ? It's enormous

CNN maintain a couple of Special Report webpages dedicated to the fallen in both the Iraq and Afghanistan Ops, listing the casualty tolls. The Afghanistan website reports casualties from October 2001 and Iraq from March 2003. All Coalition Forces are listed.

Each month has a separate webpage listing the dead, giving a photo, name, age, unit, nationality/hometown and brief circs of their death. It really brings it into sharp focus when you scroll down and the photos of the dead keep scrolling. All these young faces staring back at you of young lads that gave their all….… and then you realise that these are the poor souls who have died in ONE MONTH!

You may already have seen these links so apologies. Pick any month, but check May 2007 just to get a sense of scale…. 130 dead in one month – includes Maj Bateson, Cpl Brookes and Pte Thompson also Pte Nobbe (Danish)

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/ir ... 08.01.html

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oe ... 08.01.html

Iraq:
The current figures according to the website are 4,344 coalition deaths (although it can take a few days before an entry is made following a fatality)

4,036 Americans, two Australians, 176 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three Latvian, 22 Poles, three Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians. At least 29,780 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq, according to the Pentagon..

Afghanistan:
Current figures now stand at 785 coalition deaths

488 Americans, four Australians, 93 Britons, 82 Canadians, two Czech, 14 Danes, 14 Dutch, two Estonians, one Finn, 12 French, 22 Germans, 11 Italians, three Norwegians, three Poles, two Portuguese, six Romanians, one South Korean, 23 Spaniards, two Swedes. At least 1,928 U.S. personnel have been wounded in action in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.


I don’t imagine for a minute that when CNN set up these websites they thought they would still be having to add photos and biogs to this day. I hope that the entries come to an end some day soon.


In the meantime they serve as a worthy memorial.. RIP all

[davo141]

Its shocking indeed but i dont believe it should be up a news agency to publish something like this. It should be set up by the ministy upon death as a blog or forum for friends and family alike to help grieve.

I know on facebook friends and family of fallen servicemen and women have set up groups with photos and dits, quite humbling but it is the little things after all.

[Pilgrim Norway]

Very good - and thank you for that Sportbilly . . .

I was thinking more along the lines of the cost to near ones.

For every loss there is a family - a father and mother, two grandfathers
and grandmothers, uncles and aunts,brothers, sisters, wives, children etc

We are not 'dog soldiers' - we have more than our oppo to our left -

The job still has to be done - but the cost should come forward when the
accounting is made up.

Gary Thompson, aged 51,leaves behind his wife Jacqui and their five daughters, Laurie, 24, Aimee, 22, Jordan, 20, Jade, 17 and Kelly, 16.
Gary Thompson saw the job - and did it.....

A 'Thank You' to them all - and 'theirs' for the sacrifice it took.

[anglo-saxon]

Very good - and thank you for that Sportbilly . . .

I was thinking more along the lines of the cost to near ones.

For every loss there is a family - a father and mother, two grandfathers
and grandmothers, uncles and aunts,brothers, sisters, wives, children etc

We are not 'dog soldiers' - we have more than our oppo to our left -

The job still has to be done - but the cost should come forward when the
accounting is made up.

Gary Thompson, aged 51,leaves behind his wife Jacqui and their five daughters, Laurie, 24, Aimee, 22, Jordan, 20, Jade, 17 and Kelly, 16.
Gary Thompson saw the job - and did it.....

A 'Thank You' to them all - and 'theirs' for the sacrifice it took.

My htoughts exactly.

I cannot fathom the extent of the grief that "Tommo's" family are experiencing. Somehow it seems that they would expect it less, as he wasn't a career military man, and therefore perhaps the shock is greater. Not sure, but it was evident that he was a family man and the ripple effect is subsequently enormous though many, many lives. Not to diminish in any way the sacrifice of others as any less tragic. Just an observation.

[harry hackedoff]

Over the last year or so, I have been involved with a family down here. Initially on a formal RMA level but more so on a personal level as we have got to know each other`s families and become friends.
From them and the contacts they have made with other grieving families back in UK, it would seem there is a huge range in the quality of support being provided and frankly, I find that unforgiveable. I am proud to say the support offered by the Corps has been nothing less than outstanding.
That should be the case for all, but some units are very abrupt in their dealings with bereaved families.
It`s more than just a training gap, it`s a lack of willingness to offer longtime emotional suport to people who have suffered the most.

[anglo-saxon]

I know you've all seen the thread that show's Canada's to dead soldiers "homecomings". Got1 was kind anough to e-mail me the original PowerPoint presentation. I have to say that that level of class is generally also reflected in the standard of care afforded to the families and loved ones. It really is outstanding. Yet, it was not always so and a great many faux pas and mistakes were made along the way before they got it right.

We recently had a sgt die of cancer and the Div comd (called "Area" here), a Brig, peronsally wrote a lett to the family. The Chief of Staff, a full Colonel, flew out to the funeral. I was very impressed.

[Pilgrim Norway]

Yes indeed . . . things ARE happening that will make a difference.

Some of my 'Old & Bold' from the middle fifties and onward have been
invited to be 'Mentors' at CTCRM. This will spread from RMA to RMA and
will hopefully cover the entire country after a while in order to gather up
men and women needing a point of contact, whatever the cause.

The role will give advice and a friendly face during training and afterwards
should this be desirable. An excellent idea - Well Done.

With so many now serving from the 'Reserves' who will otherwise perhaps
return to their civvy jobs upon completion of their 'tour' and not have the
comfort blanket of the Corps or Regiment to rely on this kind of 'Mentor'
will be handy . . . local folks to listen and lend a hand who have the T shirt

[just_me]

It's shocking how many people were killed by roadside bombs.

[sportbilly42]

And so the Old Year draws to a close and a New Year begins.
What will 2009 bring....... better news than 2008 is something to hope for.

In a year which saw British Forces suffer 50* fatal casualties, it’s also important to recognise the sacrifices other countries have made.


The US Forces have suffered the worst, with 154 of their servicemen killed in Afghanistan and a massive 303 lost in Iraq! Canada and Denmark lost 31 and 12 soldiers respectively. France lost 11 (10 men were killed in a single ambush incident in August). Poland lost 8 soldiers, including 1 in Iraq. Holland lost 6. Australia, Romania, Georgia and Germany all lost 3 servicemen. Italy, Hungary and Spain lost 2. Ireland, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic and Azerbaijan all lost 1 serviceman.

We salute them all........

A new US President takes office. A new sheriff in town....... Things are gonna change.....

A ‘Peaceful’ 2009 is too much to ask for. But I wish all our Servicemen 'Good Luck in 2009' and hope they have successful, maybe even uneventful, Operational tours this coming year......

*EDIT 1 Jan 09: Including a Royal Marine from 45 Commando Royal Marines who was killed by an explosion on the afternoon of 31 December 2008

(source: http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oe ... 08.12.html)