OPINION:
As a veteran, I’m done watching people twist the deaths of our service members into political ammunition.
Anyone who has ever worn the uniform understands a truth that critics shouting from the sidelines rarely grasp: When you raise your right hand, you accept that defending this nation may cost you your life. That is not theoretical. It is the creed.
Operation Epic Fury began in February 2026. Since then, 14 American heroes have been killed. Every one leaves behind a family, a story and a hole that will never be filled. And for anyone pretending this is some unprecedented tragedy, history offers clarity.
During the Vietnam War, the CIA’s Weekly Indicators routinely reported 150 to 200 American battle deaths in a single week, with some weeks in 1968 climbing even higher. That was the brutal cost of war then.
Today, even in active combat operations, our average is less than one American fatality per week. That does not minimize loss; it acknowledges reality. Decades of improved training, technology, intelligence and precision have dramatically reduced risk. These advancements save lives. They matter.
Yet some voices insist on calling this an “unjust war.” They are free to say it, but the men and women who serve do not enlist to debate foreign policy. They enlist to defend the United States. They know the risks. They accept them. And fourteen of them paid the ultimate price doing exactly what they swore to do.
If we want to honor our fallen, we should stop using their deaths as political talking points and start recognizing the seriousness of what they chose to do. That truth deserves respect, not distortion.
GARY N. DARBY
Mesa, Arizona
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