Record number of Kansas soldiers killed in Iraq

Iraqsoldiers2Sgt. Christopher Kruse of Emporia was killed by a roadside bomb Tuesday. He was the 12th Kansan to die in the Iraq war in 2007, the most so far in a year since the war began, Associated Press reported. Condolences to the families on the loss of these brave soldiers.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

18 Comments

  1. The Phantom
    Posted November 16, 2007 at 1:04 pm | Permalink

    Thank your Republican Senators today, they’re keeping Kansans over there instead of over here!http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071116/pl_nm/iraq_usa_funding_dc_3

  2. The Phantom
    Posted November 16, 2007 at 1:05 pm | Permalink

    I’m waiting for the Republican response of “So what, more kansans are killed every year on Kansas highways, you’re safe in Iraq than you are in Kansas.

  3. Posted November 16, 2007 at 1:31 pm | Permalink

    “Mission accomplished.” -George Bush.

  4. Posted November 16, 2007 at 1:47 pm | Permalink

    Sgt. Christopher Kruse, hey man, we’ll miss you a lot. My condolences to your family, may God comfort them.

    The video below is dedicated to you and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

    God Bless Brother, rest in peace.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQb6APMj5Qk

  5. Nathan
    Posted November 16, 2007 at 2:53 pm | Permalink

    God Bless them and their families.

  6. Kev
    Posted November 16, 2007 at 5:39 pm | Permalink

    “”"I’m waiting for the Republican response of “So what, more kansans are killed every year on Kansas highways, you’re safe in Iraq than you are in Kansas.”"”

    I am not a Repuke by far but 12 is not really a huge loss. Kansas probably lost that many a day in WW 2 and a week in Vietnam. We are getting alot better at killing people without getting killed.

  7. Mary Caruso
    Posted November 16, 2007 at 6:13 pm | Permalink

    Great, isn’t it Kev? We’ve got war down to a science…and no one has to care if they don’t want to. Frees us up to invade, destroy, and overthrow any government we see fit..and if you don’t believe in war, then don’t participate in one!

  8. writerdog
    Posted November 16, 2007 at 8:33 pm | Permalink

    On a day I was less then human, I mockingly said to one of my co-workers who every one nicknamed “hippy” on the news that John Lennon had been killed. “Don’t it make you sad that John Lennon was killed?” saying it more to try to fit in with the older and more cynical co-workers ( I was 24 at the time).
    “Hippy” looked at me as if I had disappointed him (and afterward his disappointment in me could not match the disappointment I had in myself) and said “ I am saddened whenever anyone dies needlessly”.

    What can I say to this soldier’s family? To any soldier’s family who is KIA or receives a life altering wound?I am sorry for your lost is so hollow, as hollow as their life will be without their love one. That their sacrifice will mean the continuation of this nation? Was not their love one worth being a part of that continuation? No, there are not words, no feelings to equal the loss of these Americans. Our nation will continue, but we should never forget those who’s lives and blood have meant that continuation. Be it one or ten thousand whom die the cost is high. For it is through our cannibalism that this nation continues, this nation in times like these feed off the bodies of our losses.

  9. Posted November 17, 2007 at 12:22 am | Permalink

    I am not a Repuke by far but 12 is not really a huge loss. Kansas probably lost that many a day in WW 2 and a week in Vietnam. We are getting alot better at killing people without getting killed Posted by Kev.

    Tell the 12 families that story

  10. Posted November 17, 2007 at 12:22 am | Permalink

    I am not a Repuke by far but 12 is not really a huge loss. Kansas probably lost that many a day in WW 2 and a week in Vietnam. We are getting alot better at killing people without getting killed Posted by Kev.

    Tell the 12 families that story

  11. Posted November 17, 2007 at 12:27 am | Permalink

    I am not a Repuke by far but 12 is not really a huge loss. Kansas probably lost that many a day in WW 2 and a week in Vietnam. We are getting alot better at killing people without getting killed Posted by Kev.

    Tell the 12 families that story

  12. RustyFord`
    Posted November 17, 2007 at 1:14 am | Permalink

    To the families of each of those who were killed it was a tragic loss. It doesn’t matter how many per week were killed in WW2 or Vietnam. What matters is someone they loved will come home one last time for a final ceremony to lie in state with unseeing eyes and unfeeling hands while those close to him feel the overwhelming anguish and emotion of knowing the only thing left are the memories. Spouses are left with only pictures to hug. Children are left with an empty void that a single parent can’t fill. Parents are left to grieve, thinking of the Thanksgivings, the birthdays, the Christmas times, and maybe the grandchildren that will never be.
    While death is a sure thing for all of us it seems so unfair when an entire life is packed into a short 18 or 20 years, to be laid down for people who the soldier has never seen, has never talked to, has never chosen their side, and has given his life because he was following orders from someone sitting behind a desk in a safe harbor halfway around the world. Often he is not appreciated by those he is fighting for and the cause proves to be less than pure in intent.With each soldier that dies we lose a little of our community, ourselves, our hopes, our dreams, our future, for war never shows who is right, it only shows who is left.

  13. Posted November 17, 2007 at 1:29 am | Permalink

    Outstanding post, very well said.

  14. Posted November 17, 2007 at 4:11 am | Permalink

    “We are getting alot better at killing people without getting killed.

    Posted by: Kev | November 16, 2007 at 05:39 PM

    I suppose this is the money quote, Kev. To some extent, it’s true. But I hope it was ironic sarcasm.

    War sucks. Even WWII. Yeah, it was inevitable (unlike most wars). Hitler had to be stopped. But it was horrific and evil. Talk to your “greatest generation” relates (who are still around). At best, it was like cauterizing a wound. Or a tourniquet.

    And a single loss of life is a tragedy–always!–and especially when the cause is at best nebulous.

    Once again: 1,2,3. . .what are we fighting for?

  15. Fiore Buccieri
    Posted November 17, 2007 at 4:32 am | Permalink

    We do no honor to the dead and wounded if we insist on continuing the policies that made them that way and expand their numbers.

  16. Kev
    Posted November 17, 2007 at 5:36 am | Permalink

    “”"Tell the 12 families that story”"”

    I did not mean to imply they are not a loss to those who knew them and loved them. They were. But to the country as a whole, they are just numbers because the war is looked at in macro terms. We lost X number of men and $X worth of machines this month so it was either a good month or a bad month.

  17. Posted November 17, 2007 at 6:23 am | Permalink

    So now Fred and his people can go to Emporia.

  18. The Phantom
    Posted November 17, 2007 at 11:56 am | Permalink

    It is sad that those entering the best yrs. of their lives lose their lives, fighting for God only knows what, (definitely not the continuation of their country). One is too many, when you are a family member, or friend are the one.