American wars: Sacrifice becoming a “legacy affair” for a small number of families

The Washington Post has a story worth the time to read about the sacrifices being made that go largely unnoticed.

President Obama devoted only six sentences to the war in Afghanistan in his State of the Union address in January. The 25-second standing ovation that lawmakers lavished on the troops lasted almost as long as the president’s war remarks.

Lt. Gen. John Kelly is featured in the story.  I remember the stereotype in the 1960’s of Army Generals like Jack D. Ripper chomping big cigars with a chest full of ribbons cavalierly ordering men to their deaths.  This stereotype informed a generation of thinking about the armed services.  But General Kelly’s sacrifice discussed in the article reminds us that stereotype, like so much the Vietnam generation gave the country, has become obsolete.