Man Keeps Coffin Tally Of War Dead

[cal04]

A World War II Navy veteran is waging a one-man campaign to remind people about the cost in human life from the Iraq war.Milton Halvorsen, 77, has erected a memorial on his front lawn to U.S. casualties: a flag-draped coffin with signs updated daily listing the number of dead and wounded.On Thursday, it read "1,097 killed, 11,374 wounded -- numbers confirmed by U.S. Central Command."

Halvorsen, a grandfather of five, joined the Navy in 1944, serving in the Pacific. As he attended his grandson's graduation in June, his mind started racing, wondering which of the graduates might wind up on a foreign battlefield.

"How many of these kids are going to get killed in Iraq?" he asked. "It makes no difference if its Bush or someone else in the White House. We're wrong."

He hopes to see a worldwide debate to resolve the Iraq conflict.He has proposed a resolution to the Borough Council encouraging a dialogue between American officials and diplomats from Arab countries, and suggested the town's community center as a place to hold it.
That proposal hasn't been acted on; the borough says it is being reviewed by its municipal attorney.

http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_268111650.html

[Goldmund]

1. 1097?

ICaualties.org is reporting 1043.

[saigon68]

2. 1043 is the number

They also list almost 200 "coalition" (WTF) that means these days and hundreds of Mercenaries--- Halliburton alone has lost 76 or so.

[shockingelk]

3. he might be including ...

non-military contract support staff. That would be about right.

[FDRrocks]

4. Bless him. n/t