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Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Reader comment of the day: Gourley on the meaning of a death in combat

While Tom Ricks is away from his blog, he has selected a few of his favorite posts to re-run. We will be posting a few every day until he returns. This originally ran on October 25, 2010. Jim Gourley, in a response to the post on the Adrian Lewis book, parses the loss of a ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Scott Olson/Getty Images

While Tom Ricks is away from his blog, he has selected a few of his favorite posts to re-run. We will be posting a few every day until he returns. This originally ran on October 25, 2010.

While Tom Ricks is away from his blog, he has selected a few of his favorite posts to re-run. We will be posting a few every day until he returns. This originally ran on October 25, 2010.

Jim Gourley, in a response to the post on the Adrian Lewis book, parses the loss of a soldier:

Someone dies in combat. At Brigade level, he’s a social security number and a status that gets tracked to Landstuhl. At Division, he’s a storyboard. At Corps, he’s a statistic. At Platoon and Company, he’s a gaping wound in the soul of a hundred men. To his family, it’s the end of the world."

Someday I hope to see a printout of those words posted on a cubicle wall, or over a urinal, in a division or corps headquarters.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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