EW Letter of the Week

62 HOURS OF PAUSE

Sixty-two hours. A wearisome span, when one considers the difficulty of staying awake so long. More than 3,700 minutes. Now consider pausing for a moment of silence, a minute in traditional length, one for each fallen American soldier, a traditional honor, a gesture of respect. Not much to ask, given the sacrifice of each young man and woman, given how many minutes they've given up of their future to the cause of this war of folly.

Sixty-two hours. More than 3,700 consecutive minutes of silence needed to commemorate the American dead. And how many more hours were we to commemorate the Iraqi dead? Ten thousand, perhaps more. So many lives so terribly wasted, so many more to follow. Bring 'em home, and keep 'em well.

Todd Huffman, Eugene