AMERICA GRATEFUL FOR SACRIFICE OF OUR SOLDIERS

Since the end of the Persian Gulf war, Americans have celebrated our military prowess, and the men and women who admirably served our nation in time of crisis. But on Monday, the tribute will turn more somber as we pause to pay tribute to America's war dead.

America has fought 11 wars. The losses are grim. In all, 38,290,000 Americans have gone to war and 1,153,541 have not come back.

The Civil War, which pitted brother against brother, shed the most American blood with 497,000 lives lost. World War II followed with 406,000 dead. The other wars racked up the following grisly statistics: World War I, 116,000 dead; Vietnam, 58,000 dead; Korea, 54,000 dead; Mexican War, 13,000 dead; Revolutionary War, 4,000 dead; Spanish-American War, 2,400 dead; War of 1812, 2,000 dead; Indian Wars, 1,000 dead; and Persian Gulf War, 141 dead.

We pay tribute to those close to our hearts as well as total strangers. The unknown soldiers from two world wars, Korea and Vietnam are entombed and ceremoniously guarded in America's most renowned cemetery, Arlington. These friends and strangers fought to guarantee America's freedom.

It is well we should pay tribute to our lost brave soldiers on Memorial Day. But the day also provides a fitting time to deliberate the agony of war as well. We should remember the telling words of Gen. Robert E. Lee in 1862 after watching the slaughter at Fredericksburg: "It is well that war is so terrible or we should grow too fond of it." The price of war is indeed high. We need only to consider America's 1.1 million war dead throughout two centuries to realize the monumental sacrifice of these soldiers and their families.