President Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base today to honor the 22 Navy SEALs, three Air Force personnel, and five-member Army air crew killed in the attack on the Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan this past weekend. As the LA Times reports:
Obama led a delegation of administration and military officials to salute the remains of the fallen troops, whose helicopter was shot down by insurgents Saturday. It marked the highest single-day death toll for U.S. forces since the long war began a decade ago […] He then motorcaded to a building on the base where approximately 250 family members and fellow servicemen and women of the casualties had gathered. He spent approximately 70 minutes meeting informally with family members, offering his condolences for their loss and his gratitude for their sacrifice and service.
As the debt crisis continues some say that we can no longer afford the wars that we are engaged in. We should set that debate aside for another time and follow President Obama’s lead in honoring these fallen soldiers. This report from The Washington Post provides a profile of those lost and the video below from NBC does that same. Let’s set aside partisan politics and budget debates for at least today and take time to pay our respects to our honored war dead. The debate will still be there tomorrow… they won’t.
Photo Credit: militaryphotos.net
