Thoughts about Memorial Day:

Regardless of what you believe about the politics of this, or any, war, there is something noble about the soldier, and a soldier's death. Whether voluntarily or not, they are in the caste of the despised; they are stripped of their personal identity, and made to go and face Death, while the rest of the society that sent them out continues moving on through the seasons. Whatever platitudes the spokesmen for the Government provide, they often fight for the sake of the buddy beside them.

And those who are lucky enough to come home must dwell, for the rest of their lives, with the memories of the Hell they had seen.

So it is fitting that we take at least one day out of the year to remind ourselves that they are more than cannon fodder -- and that wars have a cost.

But this year, I found myself wondering: is it time to remember the other cost, and set aside a special day to remember the civilians who die in war?

Memorial Day started in the late 19th Century, to honor the Union Soldiers who died in the Civil War; it wasn't until after WW1 that soldiers from all wars were included. We've not had another war on American soil since the Civil War, so the civilian dead have always been the Other -- dem furnurs. I don't expect there to be much sentiment cast toward their lives (though I think they deserve it). But, especially in the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, now, civilians are stepping into Death's garden -- News reporters, contractors, peace activists.

Will the CBS newsmen, who were killed this last weekend, be remembered as part of next year's Memorial Day ceremonies?

Sadly, I doubt it.