Thursday, January 27, 2005
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NUMBERS
Lots of talk at the bar last night about the 27 Marines from Hawaii who were among the 31 killed in the helicopter crash in Iraq. The Kaneohe base is on Oahu's east coast (more familiarly the "windward side") maybe 15 or 20 miles from Honolulu. All the service branches are well represented in Hawaii and the military, and tourism, sugar and pineapples are the main industries. Not only do the defense installations create civilian jobs but many military personnel are active in community volunteer work so there is a kinship for those lost, not only among their fellow Marines but for other Islanders as well.
Adding the other 7 U.S. deaths in Iraq, yesterday was noted as the worst day we've had since the war started. I suppose a lot of numbers pale against the 170,000 tsunami victims but one can be a horribly big number to a person who lost a relative on that helicopter or to a roadside bomb or on that Glendale commuter train.
Lots of talk at the bar last night about the 27 Marines from Hawaii who were among the 31 killed in the helicopter crash in Iraq. The Kaneohe base is on Oahu's east coast (more familiarly the "windward side") maybe 15 or 20 miles from Honolulu. All the service branches are well represented in Hawaii and the military, and tourism, sugar and pineapples are the main industries. Not only do the defense installations create civilian jobs but many military personnel are active in community volunteer work so there is a kinship for those lost, not only among their fellow Marines but for other Islanders as well.
Adding the other 7 U.S. deaths in Iraq, yesterday was noted as the worst day we've had since the war started. I suppose a lot of numbers pale against the 170,000 tsunami victims but one can be a horribly big number to a person who lost a relative on that helicopter or to a roadside bomb or on that Glendale commuter train.
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