Memorial Day

Here we are again, honoring and remembering those who have sacrificed in our name, and those who continue to put themselves in harm's way. We've got a new commander-in-chief this year, and a new strategy for the two wars he inherited. The current iCasualties count in Iraq, in which U.S. involvement is ostensibly winding down (whether military interests will drag their heals to avoid Obama's deadline remains to be seen), is 4,300 U.S. military dead, and 4,618 coalition fatalities. Afghanistan, which is picking up the slack for the drawdown in Iraq, currently stands at 687 American fatalities out of a total of 1,154 coalition deaths.

Let's keep this in mind when we're flipping burgers and grilling brats.