Peinlich, wenn man einen Billionen-Krieg führt und die Steuerzahler nicht mal unterscheiden können, in welche Weltregion ihre staatlichen Zwangsabgaben hinfliessen? Aber das amerikanische Bildungssystem hatte schon immer Probleme, im Fach Geographie Profis heranzubilden …

But the news arrived anyway. Lyndsee Mabe, another of Hickman’s close friends, was at the house and mentioned that a Marine from the nearby town of Ramseur had been killed in Afghanistan.

“Is that where David was?” Veronica asked.

“No,” Mabe said. “Iraq.”

“Oh,” Veronica said, stroking her son’s military ID tags. “I thought that was in Afghanistan.”

After nearly a decade of fighting two wars that sometimes appear indistinct to an increasingly disconnected American public, even those most deeply and directly affected by them can be confused by the far-off battles. But the grief always finds its way home.

Quelle: In Iraq, the last to fall: David Hickman, the 4,474th U.S. service member killed – The Washington Post