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Wisconsin's losses regarding Osama Bin Laden - and the caveat
This entry was posted on 5/3/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under All Things Commemorative, Perennial war culture, Wisconsin Guard and military, Extraordinary Events, Assignment of Meaning, War on Nouns and Verbs, Afghanistan, Wisconsin at war.
I would just be remiss if I did not have some take on Osama Bin Laden; after all, he has haunted us for over a decade. One thing I do try to keep track of is Wisconsin military service persons killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is hard to keep up with as we have averaged about one death per month for the last almost 10 years. Regardless of what your politics are regarding these two wars, they have been joined at the hip for some time whether we like it or not. Often, they both fall under the auspices of "The War on Terror." I can't bring the dead military people back. I can only tabulate the wreckage their deaths represent. We can all argue the merits of war until we are blue in the face. And, our battle with Middle East terrorists and tumultuous Muslim regimes goes back to the '72 Olympics and probably further even back to the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six-Day War. For the last decade at any rate, Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya have occupied our attention. The epicenter of the decade-long vigil of perennial war is a guy named Osama Bin Laden. If one is forced to peel back all our politics and infighting and be forced to point to one main cause of our decade of disruptions, Osama Bin Laden should be right up on top of the list. On this past Sunday night, our President announced Bin Laden had been killed by our armed forces. Just shy of 6,000 American military service persons have died in war since October of 2001. Another 1192 of our Coalition allies have been killed. And, 43,184 Americans have been wounded. They are often said to have paid the ultimate price in the cause of that "War on Terror." My count has 138 Wisconsin military service persons dying in this war time. Now remember, for as many data bases as you can find, they probably will all have various totals of the dead. There is no standardized way to label someone as officially from any particular state considering that in this modern era, people sometimes have lived in several states - especially military personnel. Also, if a person dies of wounds some time after their return to Wisconsin, the Pentagon may not consider them a "war casualty." None-the-less, I have found at least 138 people with Wisconsin ties that died due to our current wars. There is then, 138 Wisconsin lives that have been ruined. There are the friends and family of those 138 whose lives have likewise been permanently realigned and perhaps ruined as well. There are at least 100 Wisconsin communities that will forever have the aura of war hanging amongst them like a specter - several towns have lost more than one resident. It did not take long for the conspiracy culture to jump on the saga of the demise of the "evil-doer". A hasty burial of said perp at sea, the trickling out of information on the raid, and developing evidence of Pakistani (our supposed allies) collusion in protecting Bin Laden, has raised the eyebrows of even the hardiest of status quo defenders and apologists. For the sake of all of our 138 lost Wisconsin military service people, I can only hope this whole thing does not eventually reveal any improprieties with accuracy in the story of the death of Bin Laden. Already tormented family, friends, and communities do not need to have their hearts rebroken by some sort of massive information mess-up or manipulation. If and or until credible contrary information regarding Bin Laden is presented, I will take the word of our leaders at large that he is deader than dead. And good riddance to him. But, considering the political shenanigans (take your pick) of our many government handlers over the last 60 years in my life-time, and the price we have all paid for those many said political antics.... .....don't push it. Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Private Steven Thomas Drees, 19, of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, died on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Landstuhl, Germany. Drees died of wounds he sustained in Konar Province, Afghanistan, in the mountainous Khyber Pass which links the country with Pakistan. Insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire and rocket-propelled-grenades. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
The Gazette of Colorado Springs notes that the combat Drees was wounded in took place on the Wednesday before his death. Drees had joined the Army in mid 2008. His unit had deployed in to Afghanistan in late May of 2009. Private Drees became the first Fort Carson casualty in the fighting in Afghanistan however his unit had sustained heavy casualties while in Iraq losing 113 soldiers.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Steven had recently turned 19. He had joined the Army right after graduating from Peshtigo High School. Peshtigo is a small town of about 3000 people and is known in history for the 1871 fire that ravaged the area. Private Drees was serving as a gunner on a Humvee during his last mission. After sustaining wounds he was airlifted to Germany where his parents were able to be with him. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Drees played basketball during high school. He had a love of hunting and fishing. Steven joined family members each year to participate in Wisconsin's gun-deer season in November. The Milwaukee paper went on to note Drees was an organ donor.
The hospital in Germany via their Website at landstuhlhospitalcareproject.org posts information regarding Steven Drees. Using information from the Green Bay Press-Gazette the hospital notes Steven was remembered for writing poems during his Army training. When younger he played baseball; he then lettered in both football and basketball in high school. Some of Private Drees’ military awards include the Army Service Ribbon, and the Combat Infantry Badge. His military medals include the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, the Purple Heart, and Bronze Star.
The Website findagrave.com notes Steven Drees was born on May 26, 1990. He had left for Afghanistan on his 19th birthday, May 26, 2009; he was killed just one month later. Steven was survived by his parents Dawn Bayer and Paul Drees; his twin brother Charlie; maternal grandmother, Louise Bayer; paternal grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Henry T. (Marian) Drees; his girlfriend Stacia Baker and their unborn child. He was laid to rest next to his maternal grandfather, Michael Bayer. Private Steven Drees was the 13th Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
0 American/Coalition casualties in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
100,588 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,924 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,452 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1563 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
874 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,074 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
11,110 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
31 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
148 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
4 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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