Over 1,000 American kids have lost a parent in the Iraq war

[donsu]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7169451/site/newsweek/

-snip-

War notoriously robs parents of their sons, but it also steals husbands and fathers, and increasingly wives and mothers. The Pentagon doesn't keep these statistics, but using figures compiled by the Scripps-Howard News Service and other sources, NEWSWEEK has calculated that as of last week 1,043 American children had lost a parent in Iraq. To put it another way, nearly two years after the invasion on March 19, 2003, among the 1,508 American troops who have died as of March 11 were an estimated 450 fathers, and 7 mothers. A wartime death presents unique hardships for children. It occurs in a far-off country, often to a parent who left home months earlier; young children may find it hard to grasp the finality of the event. Offsetting that is the impressive panoply and ritual of a military funeral, and the consoling knowledge that the sacrifice was in a worthy cause. The death of a parent often leaves a family not just sadder, but poorer, and surviving spouses are agitating for improvements in their benefits. But there are needs no government program can fill.

-snip-
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you want sadness up front and personal, read the rest of this article.

[pie]

1. Now I am all filled up with sadness for the day

No more bad news allowed until tomorrow

[WebeBlue]

2. Thank you for posting the article, calling attention to reality. n/t

[beam me up scottie]

3. This is even worse:

snip
On the morning that 14-year-old Rohan Osbourne learned that his mother, Pamela, had been killed in a mortar attack on her Army base, his father dropped him off as usual at Robert M. Shoemaker High School, where three quarters of the students are the children of soldiers from nearby Fort Hood, Texas. "I might not get a lot of work done today, ma'am," Rohan politely explained to his teacher. "My mommy died yesterday in Iraq."
snip

WTF???

The kid's mom is dead and he gets dropped off at school?

[babylonsister]

4. Now THAT is cold. That poor kid. What

was his father thinking? I know he too must be suffering, but kids hurt, too. :cry:

[beam me up scottie]

6. I know.

Now I don't know all the details but I would think that the kid was old enough to go with his dad to make arrangements for mom's return. That might have helped him deal with it.
It doesn't get any colder.

[liberalitch]

5. I am heartbroken for these families, but....

I am also hoping that these kids are the seeds of the next Liberal Generation.

[paineinthearse]

7. .

:kick: