Reading a casualty report: U.S. fighting in Afghanistan as long as they can remember

Reading
this casualty report yesterday (Tuesday),
it occurred to me that we have been fighting in Afghanistan for about as long
as our soldiers there can remember. They were 12, 10, maybe even 7 years old
when the fighting began.

The
four soldiers killed on Sunday west of Kandahar were from a specially
trained team that engages Afghan women, reported Drew Brooks of the Fayetteville Observer. One of them, Lt. Jennifer Moreno, 25, was saluted by
the commander of the 75th Rangers as "a talented member of our team who lost her life while
serving her country in one of the most dangerous environments in the world. Her
bravery and self-sacrifice were in keeping with the highest traditions of the 75th Ranger Regiment."

This
is the first statement I can remember from the Rangers about a female soldier,
but I haven't gone looking closely at their statements, so I might have missed
some.

On
the other hand, I have read every single damn casualty statement released from
the Pentagon for the last 12 years. I am not sure how long I will continue to
do it. But I still feel like I shouldn't stop. Or maybe I can't.