Iraqi child won’t let go of Mich. Guardsman, photo by The National Guard.
The Iraq War began on March 20, 2003 and was formally ended yesterday, December 15, 2011. At 8 years, 9 months it was longer than Vietnam, longer than World War II. This Detroit Free Press article on the costs of the war in Iraq says they include 4,487 dead and 32,226 wounded Americans and over 100,000 Iraqi dead. Michigan’s contribution was at least 159 dead and 1,000 wounded, according to Pentagon records. Military Times has the number at 216, and you can see the list of Michiganders who gave their lives in the Iraq War.
Retired Marine and Iraq vet Steve Maddox says that veteran’s challenges are just beginning and cannot be answered by yellow ribbons or catchy sloganeering. In addition to combat injuries and frightening suicide rates he writes:
I see post-Iraq War challenges that are as big, if not bigger than those we faced as a nation for the past eight years. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans face higher unemployment rates than their contemporaries. In Michigan, with an overall unemployment rate hovering around 10%, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans’ unemployment rate is over 29%, by far the highest in the country.
One of the articles I read noted that we’re not leaving Iraq in very good shape. The Iraqi Hope Foundation was founded by Michigan Tech alum and Iraq veteran Major Don Makay. The foundation seeks to honor the sacrifices of veterans by building stability and prosperity of Iraq through investment in small and mid-level businesses. Read more about it right here.
About this photo, the National Guard says:
U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Loyd, assigned to Foxtrot Company, 425th Infantry (Long Range Surveillance), Michigan National Guard, based in Selfridge, Mich., holds hands with an Iraqi child in Sununi, Iraq, Oct. 29, 2009. Loyd was standing outside the mayor’s office while a meeting was taking place when the child attached himself to Loyd and would not let go. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Carmichael Yepez/Released)
See it background big and see a few more in their Michigan slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 