An Unheralded Tribute To The Men And Women In Our Armed Forces

We are still in the middle of two wars.  I don't mean that to be glib; I am not a teabagger who's using that as an excuse to, say, give tax cuts to the rich or bust the unions.  But life goes on for us without us noticing, at least not anymore, that people are dying representing the country we live in and take for granted.

But not Jim Lehrer, lead anchor for The PBS NewsHour.  When we invaded Iraq, Lehrer, back when the show was called The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, started a segment called "The Honor Roll": At the end of every broadcast, there's a montage of fatalities.  There is a single template: Photo of the officer on the left, rank, name, age, and hometown on the right.  "We add them as their deaths become official and photos become available," Lehrer intoned.  In 2006 those killed in Afghanistan were added to "The Honor Roll."  And he still does that today, although usually on Fridays instead of every broadcast.

That's it.  And in that simple, unadorned way, he brings proper dignity to the high cost of waging war to defend our country and our ideals.  "Here, in silence ..." is what Lehrer says, and still says, and I'm grateful that there is no overwrought music to tell us how to feel, or flashy graphics that make it all about the broadcaster.  Also, that The PBS NewsHour is still doing this, almost a decade after Afghanistan and almost eight years after Iraq, shows that, even though we're now worried about rising debt and cutting spending, there is still one media authority who cares about the American Soldier, and will do its part to remember in tribute those who have died in our name.

So, if you ever run across your PBS station, I'd advise you to stop and take a couple minutes to look at the pictures of the men and women who have perished overseas.  I usually stop, put my remote down, and look.  (Or, you can go online and leaf through the "Honor Roll" database.)  You'll notice that all of them are very, very young; I'm certain that only two or three of the soldiers I've seen in these montages over the years were older than me.  I guess you can do more than shake your head over the loss of such young lives.  But anything that serves its purpose as a reality check should always be welcome.