For a military unit to lose one member is awful. To lose five at once is almost unthinkable. But last Monday it happened, as five soldiers from Fort Carson, Colo. -- Sgt. James E. Craig, 26, of Hollywood, S.C.; Staff Sgt. Gary W. Jeffries, 37, of Roscoe, Texas; Spc. Evan A. Marshall, 21, of Athens, Ga.; Pfc. Brandon A. Meyer, 20, of Orange, Calif.; Pvt. Joshua A. R. Young, 21, of Riddle, Ore. -- were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in southeastern Mosul.

These men lived, worked, ate, joked and were homesick together. They probably traded stories about their families and ribbed each other about favorite sports teams; they relied on each other when things got serious. They were brothers in arms, now as united in death as they were in life. Tonight as we remember them and those broken hearts they leave behind, please also think of their colleagues and a unit that will never be whole in the same way.

When I was young, I had parents who liked to take day trips and consequently I saw a lot of Pennsylvania from the back seat. I remember homes sided with green serpentine stone and the boxy solidity of Sears homes, American Foursquares and elms lining the streets. We often traveled to Lancaster County, where I watched mule teams pulling plows over Amish fields. I still remember eating the most amazing chicken soup (during a statewide avian flu outbreak), and recall the good Mennonite ladies that served it. Oh, and the peanut butter pudding from Shady Maple! The fields and skies in winter, the colors of an Andrew Wyeth painting, and the hawks atop bare trees. And the horse auction somewhere in the country, where I was told not to stare at the Amish in attendance.

I thought about all these things last week while I was at the 92nd Pennsylvania Farm Show (where an Amish man pushing a stroller took a good long look at me, carrying Baby Monkeybiz in her sling). Come on in and take a peek at a little bit of America.

No parent should have to bury a child. Yet the parents of six more soldiers -- Spc. Todd E. Davis, 22, of Raymore, Mo.; Staff Sgt. Jonathan K. Dozier, 30, of Rutherford, Tenn.; Staff Sgt. Sean M. Gaul, 29, of Reno, Nev.; Sgt. Zachary W. McBride, 20, of Bend, Ore.; Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Pionk, 30, of Superior, Wis.; and Sgt. Christopher A. Sanders, 22, of Roswell, N.M. -- must do just that.

Their sons died Jan. 9 in Sinsil, Iraq, "of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated during combat operations," according to the Department of Defense. Stars and Stripes explains that "a booby-trapped home ringed with bombs exploded, killing the six soldiers and injuring four others. An Iraqi translator also was killed. The Washington Post reported that the house had a ‘for sale’ sign on it." They were all members of the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Vilseck, Germany.

Six more are gone, leaving behind hundreds of people who knew and loved them, and who now mourn them. We remember these sons here tonight.

I don’t want to bring you this news. But I have to.

Is it bad?

Yes, it’s bad.

Four more men have died in Iraq, the first casualties of war in 2008: Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Pfc. Joshua R. Anderson, 24, of Jordan, Minn.; Cpt. Thomas J. Casey, 32, of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Maj. Andrew J. Olmsted, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colo. They were fathers, sons and soldiers, guys who once played varsity football, rode motorcycles, blogged and, long ago, played with G.I. Joe action figures. Their stories have broken my heart like they’ll break yours.

Please join me in remembering their lives which, like candles, burned brightly and lighted the way for others.

They were sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, friends and colleagues –- and on this New Year’s Eve, we remember those service members who have died this year as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This remembrance, from the "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT) team, is more than a list. It’s a chronicle of lives and dreams cut short, and a glimpse into the grief that their survivors live with every day.

We’ve chosen "We Remember Them," by Rabbis Sylvan Kamens and Jack Riemer, to help us commemorate the lives lost this year. Please click on the hyperlinked dates to read the stories behind the names; I know I’m not the only one to cry while writing them. Or while reading them.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to all those who knew and loved the fallen, and who miss them so much.

May 2008 bring fewer names and more peace.

Please also visit  Part 2 of this diary.

Death from "injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident" can cover a lot of ground, but tonight the phrase seems inadequate to describe what happened to 22-year-old Army Sgt. Kyle Dayton, of El Dorado Hills, Calif.:

(H)is grandmother told News10 that Dayton died when he was checking on a dead body in a vehicle. Eleanor Miller of El Dorado Hills said the body was "booby trapped" and exploded, killing her grandson instantly. His commander suffered severe burns in the incident.

Sgt. Dayton died Dec. 3 in Ashwah, Iraq without ever having seen his 3-month-old son, Sean.

Please join me this evening in remembering him.

I don’t visit the Walter Reed blog enough. It’s one veteran’s chronicle of life at the hospital as a "warrior in transition." In a recent entry, he talks about how painful it was, post-surgery, to walk even a short distance across the campus. He writes that he was on his way to get a bite when he ran into another veteran, this one in a wheelchair:

As he pulled up beside me he commented, "I really like those shoes you got, I used to wear them all the time." The only thing that I could think of at the time was, "Yeah, they are nice, but they are wearing out after only two years." In the flattest of tones he replied, "Yeah, I used to go through pairs of them at [a] time, until I lost my legs."

What can you say after that?
I couldn't and didn't say a thing.

I just made my way back to my room. And was grateful that I had been the one left speechless.
And ashamed.

To those who have given much and suffered much: Thank you. I’m grateful. And ashamed.

An Army Ranger. A Marine. Both 22, both killed in Iraq doing what they wanted to do.

Tonight, I bring you the news of two more deaths -- Cpl. Benjamin C. Dillon, 22, of Rootstown, Ohio and Lance Cpl. Jeremy W. Burris, 22, of Tacoma, Wash. – that are being mourned by their families, friends, units and communities. Please join me in honoring their service and remembering their lives.

"I want my son back."

Those are the words of one grieving mother, who recently got the news that her only son had been killed halfway across the world.

Tonight, it’s my sad duty to pay tribute to three service members -- Gunnery Sgt. Herman J. Murkerson Jr., 35, of Adger, Ala.; Sgt. Randell Olguin, 24, of Ralls, Texas; and Sgt. Chirasak Vidhyarkorn, 32, of Queens, N.Y. -- who died recently in Iraq.

May their friends and family find comfort as they remember their loved ones with the family stories that the rest of us will never hear; may the rest of us pause for a moment and honor their memories.

These diaries never get easier. Night after night, we see the faces of the fallen: decked out in uniform, posed against an American flag; in family pictures, cradling babies; on myspace.com pages, hanging out with friends and sweethearts.

Tonight, I bring you  a short video of Sgt.1st Class Matthew Blaskowski, in better days – in a hospital bed, recovering from wounds he sustained in Afghanistan in 2005. Here’s part of what he had to say:

"...About two months, they said, I’ll be better and hopefully I can get back down there and get back with my soldiers. Somebody has to do it, I guess, you know. I don’t see it as a sacrifice, you know, for me. I just want to get back down there and do my job. I’m okay, you know. I could be worse."

On Sunday, Blaskowski, of Levering, Mich. was killed in Asadabad, Afghanistan, dying "of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire during combat operations," according to the Department of Defense.

Please join me below the fold in honoring his memory.

Do you look at the label when you buy something?

Bill Allayaud does. A Sierra Club director, Allayaud used to think that "people who checked labels on clothing or toys to make sure they were "Made in the U.S.A." were everything he was not: flag-waving, protectionist, even a little xenophobic," according to Alex Williams’ recent New York Times article,  "Love It? Check the Label."

Evidently, liberals are just now catching up to the "buy American" movement — "long popular among blue-collar union workers and lunch-pail conservatives" – and NPR listeners are finally coming around to there place where Rush Limbaugh listeners have been for decades.

And what are our lame reasons for changing our minds, writes Williams? We’re worried about lead paint, working conditions in foreign factories, and environmental damage. But the biggest reason? Because the "Made in the USA" label has nouveau snob appeal!

Hey, Alex, wanna come over and see my Shop-Vacs from Bradford, Pa.? We can play Maid in America!

More growling about the parallels between xenophobic capitalism and doing the right thing follow – come on in and bitch.

"Why does it have to be my son?"

Tonight, I am thinking of all the parents who have asked this terrible question, of their grief, of their desperate need for an answer.

Tonight, their ranks have grown with the deaths of Sgt. Alexander U. Gagalac, 28, of Wahiawa, Hawaii; Lance Cpl. Lance M. Clark, 21, of Cookeville, Tenn.; Pfc. Sammie E. Phillips, 19, of Cecilia, Ky.; Cpl. Javier G. Paredes, 24, of San Antonio, Texas; and Cpl. Travis M. Woods, 21, of Redding, Calif.

For each parent who has had to bury a son or daughter killed in these wars: I wish you peace. I wish you strength. I wish you an answer to your question.

We remember five more fallen sons, below.

Tonight, three more families – those of Sgt. Kevin A. Gilbertson, 24, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Spc. Christopher G. Patton, 21, of Lawrenceville, Ga.; and Master Sgt. Patrick D. Magnani, 38, of Martinez, Calif. -- will weep over their loved ones.

With these deaths, more parents, spouses, siblings, children, friends will wake in the night, in tears, remembering, mourning. As one airman’s mother said: "My God, I've lost my heart."

May they have the strength to bear their losses, and to remember better times, even amid the tears. Join me below the fold, and hear three more stories from the war.

It’s been a busy week here in Lake Erewhon, my hometown. The days are warm enough to redden the last of the tomatoes, and cool enough to think about picking them – not from necessity, at this point, as DH and I have canned every tomato product known to mankind, but from a general sense of not wanting perfectly good food to go to waste. They hang there like rubies in the jungle, plump red fruit that falls into your hand almost as soon as you touch the plant. And even though I say I am sick of them, I hear the siren call of homemade soup on a chilly winter’s day. A steaming pot-full of my grandmother’s best (okay, so she didn’t cook much):

Gram’s Best Alphabet Soup
1 quart tomato base
1 chicken bullion cube, dissolved in a cup of water
1/3 cup alphabet pasta
Salt and (white) pepper to taste

Cook pasta per box directions. Meanwhile, combine bullion and tomato base; heat to simmering. Add alphabet pasta and heat for a minute or two more. Add salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy.

For more reflections on life, death and soup, join me below the fold.

No matter how many "I Got the News Today" diaries I write, I’m not sure that I will ever get over the feeling that there is something unjust about these deaths. The "why" of them is not mine to answer, nor is it mine to struggle through sleepless nights of memory or family events where there will always be an empty chair.

I try to mark each death. But I don’t understand.

Tonight, there’s news of six more casualties in Afghanistan -- Sgt. 1st Class Rocky H. Herrera, 43, of Salt Lake City; Sgt. Cory L. Clark, 25, of Plant City, Fla.; Sgt. Bryce D. Howard, 24, of Vancouver, Wash.; Maj. Henry S. Ofeciar, 37, of Agana, Guam; Master Sgt. Scott R. Ball, 38, of Mount Holly Springs, Penn.; and Sgt. Jan M. Argonish, 26, of Peckville, Penn. -- six soldiers who leave behind families and friends to mourn their untimely deaths.

For those who are reading here tonight, thank you for remembering these men and for bearing witness with me.

This week, the pilots and crew who fly our fallen to Dover Air Force Base have, and have had, the sad duty of escorting five of their own -- Chief Warrant Officer Christopher C. Johnson, 31, of Grandville, Michigan; Chief Warrant Officer Jackie L. McFarlane Jr, 30, Virginia Beach, Va.; Staff Sgt. Sean P. Fisher, 29, of Santee, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Stanley B. Reynolds, 37, of Rock, W. Va.; and Spc. Steven R. Jewell, 26, of Bridgeton, N.C. -- home to the U.S.

The aviators, members of Task Force Dragon, were conducting a routine post-maintenance test flight of their CH-47 Chinook helicopter when it crashed outside Fallujah, about 30 miles west of Baghdad, on Tuesday.

Now these men who dreamed of the skies are taking their final flights home. Please join me in remembering them tonight.

Look at this face. When I look at Pfc. Jaron Holliday, I see some mother’s son, and what he might have looked like through years of pictures taken at Christmas and birthday parties. A paratrooper, yes, but also a brother and a friend:

(Alec Atchison) got the news of Holliday’s death in an e-mail over the weekend. And ever since he says, snippets of memories of mission trips with the church have been popping into his mind, a conversation here or a practical joke there.

(snip)

"I'm sure the biggest way he'd want to be remembered, first and foremost as far as the type of person he was, is how much he cared about his family and loved his family. He was really great with his little brothers and sister," Atchison said.

For those who weep tonight for the fallen -- Tech. Sgt. Joey D. Link; Lance Cpl. Cristian Vasquez; Sgt. Dustin S. Wakeman; Cpl. Jason K. Lafleur; and Pfc. Jaron D. Holliday – may there be some measure of healing and peace, soon. May they see the memories of their loved ones clearly through their tears. May we all remember.

Tonight, the families of four more service members -- Staff Sgt. Wilberto Suliveras, 38, of Humacao, P.R.; Cpl. Sean A. Stokes, 24, of Auburn, Calif.; Spc. Camy Florexil, 20, of Philadelphia; and 1st Lt. Benjamin J. Hall, 24, of Fredericksburg,Virginia -– are dealing with the aftermath of the knock at the door.

We cannot know their hearts, or how much strength is required of them to get through the next hour, but we join them in mourning what has been lost – sons, brothers, uncles; holidays together; love and friendship and the building of memories. As you read about the fallen tonight, please reflect on the pain of those left behind as they endure the hour of lead.

This is the hour of lead
Remembered if outlived,
As freezing persons recollect the snow--
First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.
-- From Emily Dickinson’s "After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes"