"The Iliad is ever mindful that war is about men killing or men killed. In the entire epic, no warrior, whether hero or obscure man of the ranks, dies happily or well. No reward awaits the soldier's valor; no heaven will receive him. The Iliad's words and phrases for the process of death make clear that this is something baneful: dark night covers the dying warrior, hateful darkness claims him; he is robbed of sweet life, his soul goes down to Hades bewailing its fate. Again and again, relentlessly, the Iliad hammers this fact: the death of any warrior is tragic and full of horror. Even in war, death is regrettable."
- Caroline Alexander, The War That Killed Achilles
3-2 SBCT suffered it's first combat related death of the deployment on Saturday. Here's the news blurb:
BAQUBA - A U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded on Saturday in an attack on their base in Diyala province, the U.S. military said in a statement.
I'll give my readers one guess as to which base this attack occured on. Sometimes you forgot that there are people out there actively trying to kill you. Low number of attacks will give you a sense of complacency.
Nod to Abu Muqawama for the quote.
